Fire & Ice 2: Double Trouble
by MotoXAngels
Summary: The Beacon Hills group is in Double Trouble this time. A murderous Kanima, a psychotic family bent on revenge & a surprise resurrection. Follow Derek and Rayne as they build a pack and try to keep them safe, while all along fighting one another for what they believe is right.
1. Omega

******Disclaimer - I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

I am so thrilled that you all loved **Fire & Ice**. Rayne is one of my favorite characters to write. I couldn't wait to continue, so without further adieu here is the long awaited sequel to **Fire & Ice**.

On a side note I am posting another Teen Wolf story. It follows the storyline starting at Season 2 with another of my original characters. I also have posted a Walking Dead story called Reality Bites, along with a Battleship story and a Covenant fic. If you like please check them out.

Xoxo Tiearney

* * *

The next morning involved several revelations for Rayne. One, sometime during the night the claw marks on her back had healed enough that she was able to sleep on her back comfortably. Two, sometime during the night she had kicked her blankets off the bed. Three, sometime during the night Derek had awoken and left.

… She smirked hoping that those events happened in that exact order.

* * *

Well after everything that had already happened, the majority of the group were thinking it couldn't get much worse.

Oh how wrong they were.

Several weeks later, Rayne was now on a warpath with Chris Argent. After he had promised her that he wouldn't hurt Scott, she found out he had went and found the two lovebirds having some alone time in the woods. He broke the car window, ripped Scott out, slammed him onto the ground, then picked him up and slammed him down on the cars hood, then put a gun to his face. Allison panicked getting out of the car and running to aid Scott.

"No, Dad! Dad! He saved our lives! Your life! You can't do this! Dad, let him go! Please let him go, and I'll do… I'll do whatever you want! Okay? I swear. I won't… I won't see him again. I promise, ever again, Dad. Please, Dad, please. Please! Please!"

Allison's begging got through to her Dad as he backed off looking between the two of them, "Never again." Allison sobbed heavily, laying her head down on Scott's chest.

* * *

Rayne happened to be walking past Scott's room as he was rushing to get dressed, this late at night she could guess where he was going. Scott turned seeing his sister in the doorway and grinned giving her his best innocent look. Rayne chuckled shaking her head, "You two are gonna get caught, and then I'm gonna have to kill her parents."

Scott looked down sheepishly, he truly felt bad for putting his sister in this position. He heard her laugh and looked up to her smiling face, "Oh get out of here. Go have fun."

He ran to the doorway giving her a kiss on the cheek, then ran downstairs and out the front door, it slamming shut behind him. He heard her voice behind him, "At least someone's getting lucky." He laughed as he ran to Allison's house.

Rayne grabbed her jacket and purse heading to the hospital to visit her mom with dinner. She found Melissa standing outside a patients door giggling, "What's so funny, mom?"

"Hey sweetheart. Oh, um, that."

She pointed to their left and Rayne found Stiles holding a GET WELL SOON balloon, laying over the rails of three chairs, asleep. She could hear him mumbling, "Oh, just like that. No, no, you first. Me first?" He snickers which turns into snoring.

Rayne shook her head as she pulled out her phone, grinning, "Oh this is so blackmail material."

As she stood at the nurses station listening to her mom and the others chat, she turned to Lydia's room, as Lydia's father, Mr. Martin came out. His eyes went directly to Stiles who by now was lying on his back kissing the air. He motions to Melissa, "He's been here all night?"

"He's been here all weekend."

A nurse comes over to change out the trash can by Stiles' head just as he happens to mumble, "You're dirty." He chuckles and kisses the air again, then finally wakes up. Rayne is rolling by now, _'Oh yeah, so blackmail material.'_ Rayne kisses her mom's cheek, then heads out to run some errands.

Not more than ten minutes after she leaves she hears a loud ear piercing scream echoing, she pauses listening. On top of Allison's roof Scott hears it too, they both whisper simultaneously, "Lydia?"

* * *

Rayne drives back to the hospital where she meets up with Scott and Stiles. She stands outside the Jeep as Stiles hands Scott Lydia's dressing gown. "This is the one she was just wearing?"

Stiles sighs, nodding. "I'm not gonna let anyone hurt her. Not again." Scott tells him.

"All right, just shove the thing in your faces and let's find her."

Scott and Rayne both take a long deep smell, Rayne steps back, "I'll follow you." She gets into her truck as Stiles starts his Jeep, illuminating the figure in front of the headlights causing Stiles to yelp in surprise. Allison.

Scott worries as she approaches his window, "What are you doing here? Someone's gonna see us."

"I don't care, she is my best friend, and we need to find her before they do."

"We can find her before the cops can."

"How about before my father does?"

"He knows?" Stiles asks.

"Yeah. I just saw him and three other guys leave my house in two SUV's."

"Search party," Scott says sighing.

"It's more like a hunting party."

Scott opens the door, "Get in."

Rayne stops him, talking from her truck window. "Wait, Allison ride with me. It'll be safer if your Dad spots you with me instead of Scott."

Allison nods, they all know she's right. "We'll be right behind you," Rayne tells them.

As they drive Allison and Rayne talk with Scott and Stiles over speakerphone. Stiles asks the question everyone is dancing around, "Ok, if she's actually turning, would they kill her?"

"I don't know. They won't tell me anything. Okay, all they say is, "Well talk after Kate's funeral, when the others get here."

"What others?" Rayne asks her.

"I don't… They won't tell me that, either."

"Okay, your family's got some serious communication issues to work on," Stiles tells her. "Scott, are we going the right way?"

Both Scott and Rayne have their noses out the window tracing Lydia's scent. "Take the next right," Scott yells.

Rayne stops the truck, getting out she tells Allison, "Follow them."

"Wait where are you going?"

"There's something else out here, I'm gonna find out what it is."

* * *

Rayne takes off loping through the woods, tracking the scent into the cemetery. She pauses in the shadows, watching as something knocks a tractor onto its side over the top of a freshly dug grave. She sniffs the air, she can smell a human, teenager, fear radiating from him. She realizes he's trapped down in the grave. She moves towards the tractor, seeing whatever she's been chasing ripping into a grave nearby. Before she can approach it, a loud growl comes from her right, she doesn't have to look to know who it is. The thing whines, scampering off into the trees.

Rayne steps forward grabbing the tractor and lifting it back upright as though it was a piece of paper. She steps to the edge of the grave looking down at the frightened teenager below who eyes her with extreme hesitation.

Derek steps up next to her calling to the kid, "Need a hand?"

* * *

Rayne and Derek stand in the woods off the cemetery, watching as the police interrogate the kid they saved. Isaac Lahey. He catches them watching but they disappear before the Sheriff notices them. Derek watches Rayne's eyes as she's keeping an eye on Isaac. "You like this kid?"

"He reminds me of my brother. Only he's alone. Scott had me and Stiles. Isaac has no one. I feel this overwhelming urge to protect him."

They watch as his father degrades him, Isaac flinching as the Sheriff questions where he got the black eye.

"His father beats him, Derek. He wishes he was stronger, that he could stand up for himself."

"Then why don't we help him?"

They share a knowing look before they both grin. "You're a bad influence on me Derek Hale."

"And yet you still stick around."

"I have to. Lord knows what kinda stupid things you'd do if I wasn't here to keep an eye on you." Rayne laughs as Derek chases her through the forest.

* * *

They make their way to the high school to check on Derek's newest Beta. They find him in the bathroom, black blood pouring from his nose. Derek grabs him by the shirt, and pulls him out of the stall.

He gasps in shock, "Derek. Rayne."

"You're looking a little pale there, Jackson. You feeling okay?" Derek taps his shoulder and Jackson flinches.

"Never better."

"If something's wrong, I need to know. You're with me now."

"Wait, with you? Me with… (laughs) With you? What am I, your little pet?"

Rayne grabs Jackson's head slamming it off the mirror, "Have some respect for your Alpha you worthless, spoiled, little rich boy."

Jackson cowers as he looks back at Derek, "Just because you gave me "the bite" doesn't mean I'm part of your little wolf pack. Sorry, but to be honest, you don't exactly show outstanding leadership qualities."

"Is that so?"

"Look, I've got my own agenda. Which doesn't involve running around the woods at night, howling at the moon with you and the McCall's, okay? So why don't you just back the…"

Derek places two fingers on Jackson's right cheek turning it to the side, black blood runs from Jackson's inner ear. Derek turns him towards the mirror to show him, Jackson gasps as he sees the black blood running from both of his ears. "What is it? What's happening?"

Derek and Rayne look to one another then back to Jackson, Derek answering him as he looks on with furrowed brows, "Body's fighting the bite."

"Why?"

Derek and Rayne back away towards the door, "I don't know," Derek tells him.

"What does it mean? What does it mean?!"

Derek and Rayne leave as Jackson looks back in the mirror, the blood now running from his nose.

* * *

That night Derek and Rayne find Scott chasing another werewolf, when it gets caught in a tripwire, suspending it from its wrists in the air. Derek grabs Scott dragging him behind a tree as Rayne fights to hold him there by placing her hands on his chest.

"What are you guys doing? I can help him."

"They're already here." Derek tells him.

"I can help him!"

Derek growls out, "Quiet!"

They watch from behind the trees as Chris Argent and four others approach the snarling werewolf. The old man steps into the light, Rayne's breath catches, the two guys hear her whisper, "Gerard."

Chris whips out a cattle prod, electrocuting the wolf, bringing him back to his human form. "Who are you?" Chris asks it. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing. Nothing, I swear."

"You're not from here, are you? Are you!?" Chris shouts.

"No. No, I came… I came looking for the Alpha. I heard he was here. That's all. Look, I didn't do anything. I didn't hurt anyone. No one living. He wasn't alive in the ambulance. He wasn't, I swear."

The older man of the group spoke up then, "Gentlemen!" His voice gave Rayne the chills, no one had ever made her feel scared, but this man oozed inhumanity.

"Take a look at a rare sight. You wanna tell them what we've caught?"

"An Omega." Chris tells them.

"The lone wolf! Possibly kicked out of his own pack. Or the survivor of a pack that was hunted down. Maybe even murdered. And possibly alone by his own choice. Certainly not a wise choice." The old man goes over grabbing a long sword out of a bag and re-approaching the Omega.

Scott struggles against Derek as Rayne stands behind them burying her face in Derek's coat, she knows what's coming and she doesn't want to see it.

"Because, as I am about to demonstrate… An Omega rarely survives on his own." The old man swings the blade, the sound of slicing flesh echoes in the woods. Scott struggles more against Derek, as he turns his head away. Derek forces him to look back, "Look. Look. Look at them! You see what they do. This is why you need me. Why we need each other. The only way to fight them is together."

"What are they doing?" Scott asks.

Derek's face contorts in rage, "Declaring war."

Chris approaches the old man, "We have a code."

"Not when they murder my daughter. No code. Not anymore. From now on, these things are just bodies waiting to be cut in half. Are you listening? Because I don't care if they're wounded and weak (Rayne pictures Jackson). Or seemingly harmless (She pictures her brother). Begging for their life with the promise that they will never, ever hurt anyone. Or some desperate, lost soul with no idea what they're getting into (She pictures Isaac). We find them. We kill them. We kill them all."


	2. Shape Shifted

******Disclaimer - I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

**PureSourwolfHale - **Thank you so much for the review Maddie, I'm so glad you are loving the sequel.

On a side note I am posting another Teen Wolf story. It follows the storyline starting at Season 2 with another of my original characters. I also have posted a Walking Dead story called Reality Bites, along with a Battleship story and a Covenant fic. If you like please check them out.

Xoxo Tiearney

* * *

A few days later Derek takes Rayne for a ride, she sits quietly in the passenger seat, her head tilted back, watching the scenery fly by. The car was filled with a comfortable silence as the two enjoyed one another's company. All too soon the car jerked to a stop, curiosity got the better of her and she sat up looking around.

It was… the forest preserve. Rayne knew instantly where they were as the exited the car. They headed forward, on foot. Rayne easily kept up with Derek, even though she already knew where they were going she still followed behind him. Finally, they reached an area where the trees fell away and the grass grew thicker. She got fond memories rushing into her head as she looked upon the two large picnic tables and cement grill situated in the center of the clearing. And this clearing lead the way to… a cliff.

Derek stopped in the middle of the clearing, but Rayne continued forward until she reached the very edge of the cliff. Below them was Beacon Hills in all its small-town glory. She looked up to find that the stars were out and brighter than she had ever seen them. And the plump moon loomed overhead.

"I'd forgotten how beautiful this place was." She said in nothing more than a whisper.

"January, the Wolf Moon." His voice grew louder as he came to stand beside her. "Do you remember those family get-togethers?"

Rayne smiled, "Every year on the Wolf Moon, we would all come together to celebrate the power of the wolf. Every year our extended family would get together and come here. Playing games all day, bonding. The barbeque with the amazing food your mom always made."

"With your help." Derek reminded her causing her to smile as well before he continued.

"Then in the evening under the full moon, we would run together and bond as a pack, in our true forms. And then we would challenge each other for status in the pack hierarchy."

Rayne could tell he was trying to control the emotion in his voice, but it wasn't working. This place had memories for him, for them both. Deep, happy memories that had faded to a depressed nightmare.

"This is where your mom taught me to shift into a full wolf." Rayne's throat constricts at the memory. "Why did you bring me here, after all this time?" She finally asked. She knew the full moon – the Wolf Moon – would be coming in a week and a half, but she couldn't imagine Derek having a large pack established by then.

"I wanted to remind you how things used to be," he shrugged. "One day, the pack will be bigger. Stronger. It won't just be you and me, it'll be us and maybe Jackson, perhaps Scott. When that time comes, I want to celebrate the Wolf Moon again."

He was realizing everyone was gone. Everyone in Beacon Hills who would have known what the Wolf Moon was had died. They were the only two left to carry those memories.

"I miss those barbeques," she eventually admitted.

When Derek returned her smile, she knew he was as hopeful for the future as she was.

* * *

Later that night Rayne and Derek were in their new hideout, an abandoned subway construction site. Beacon Hills shut down their subways a decade ago when the recession hit. In an underground area, they're sitting inside a subway car. It looked very much like a standard subway car once you walked into it. But the adjoining car, they had gutted. Rayne's air mattress was on the floor and a leather trunk full of Derek's clothing. In addition there were a few books on the floor and a lantern.

Derek was in a foul mood for some reason, just as Rayne was going to ask him, he threw her one of his shirts. She eyed it, "What's this for?"

"I can't concentrate when you smell like another guy."

"Oh, please."

"I'm serious, you smell like Isaac and it's distracting me."

"Then plug your nose wolf boy, cause I'd rather smell like him, than like you."

She expected a snide remark, but when he made no move to say anything, she wadded the shirt up into a ball and chucked it at him. Of course, he caught it and sighed. "I forgot it was so close to the full moon," he muttered.

Rayne crossed her arms over her chest, giving him an icy glare. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The closer to the full moon, the more testy the wolf," he shot back.

Rayne rolls her eyes going back to her book, from the stairs Rayne hears Isaac's panicked voice, "Derek. Rayne. Derek! Rayne!"

Isaac runs through the door into the car, Derek stands up, "What's wrong?"

"My dad. I think he's dead."

Rayne and Derek stand in the shadows, two pairs of red eyes shining, they step forward their eyes going back to normal as Rayne addresses the Beta, "What did you do?"

"That's the thing. It wasn't me."

Pushing past Derek in a fashion similar to how he'd pushed past her, she reached out to lay her hand on Isaac's shoulder. He didn't flinch which Rayne took as a good sign, and in the calmest voice possible said, "Isaac, tell me what happened?"

Isaac looked up at her, he was relieved to have her as one of his Alpha's, she was easier to speak to than Derek sometimes and less likely to rip his throat out.

"I have a D in chemistry," he explained. "My dad and I fought about it, he broke a glass against the wall, it cut my face open. I tried to hide, but he saw it heal. I panicked, got on my bike and left. He followed me in the car, but I lost him. I got off my bike and just ran because the bike was slowing me down. The next thing I know I hear this screaming and I go and there's my dad's car and the driver's side door is opened and he's just lying in the car all clawed up and bloody— just, dripping blood. And… I came to find you guys."

"Another Omega?" Rayne explored, turning to Derek.

"Are you sure it wasn't human?" He wanted to know first.

The frightened boy shook his head. "Whatever it was ripped the car door straight off the hinges."

Derek looked between the two before deciding, "We're going to go check it out. Isaac, stay here."

* * *

After they had checked out the scene from a nearby rooftop, it was exactly like Isaac had described it, save for the gaggle of cops milling around now, Rayne went home. She had missed her bed and just wanted a good nights sleep which she hadn't gotten in several days.

Hours later, she heard someone come in, from the smell she knew it was Derek. She felt the mattress shift a bit, but she was too enthralled in her dreams to open her eyes and find out if the movement was more than just part of her dream. It wasn't until later, when she became overheated that she finally allowed her eyes to open… to find that someone had their arms wrapped around her from behind. Her eyes travelled downward to take note of the arm that was wrapped around her… And she instantly knew whose arm hair that was.

She wasn't sure why he was here in her room, or less why he was cuddling her. Maybe he had come here to talk, found her asleep and decided to sleep too. Maybe he had shifted in his sleep while dreaming about someone else. Maybe that had been the position he had adopted when he first entered. Either way, she enjoyed it. Being draped by Derek while he was sleeping was better than nothing, even if he wasn't aware he was doing it.

* * *

The next day Derek and Rayne jumped in the Camaro and drove to the school. They pull up to find Scott standing outside, a murderous look on his face as he sees them. "Get in." Derek commanded in the way that only Derek can command people.

"Are you serious?" Scott asked, his voice going a bit high for a second. "You did that. That's your fault." He pointed towards the direction the police car had gone with Isaac in handcuffs.

Derek sighs looking sideways at Rayne who bites her lip, he gripped the steering wheel and finally admitted, "I know that. Now get in the car and help us."

"No, I've got a better idea. I'm gonna call a lawyer. Because a lawyer might actually have a chance of getting him out before the moon goes up."

"Not when they do a real search of the house."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked, approaching the car.

"Whatever Jackson said to the cops— what's in the house is worse," the Alpha explained. "A lot worse."

Rayne had kept quiet long enough, she opens the car door, yelling at her brother, "Get in the God damn car Scott!"

They peeled away and waited until the sun had set.

* * *

Once darkness had fallen it was time to do some breaking and entering. The three of them exited the car and Derek handed Scott a flashlight. Then the Alpha grabbed one for himself and they snuck into the house.

"If Isaac didn't kill his father, who did?" Scott suddenly asked.

That seemed to be the question on everyone's mind.

"I don't know yet," Derek admitted.

"Then… how do you know he's telling the truth?"

"Because I trust my senses."

Rayne clears her throat, raising her eyebrows giving Derek a pointed look as he glances back at her. He sighs, "Because I trust your sister, and she believes he's innocent. And it's a combination of them. Not just your sense of smell."

Scott stopped walking and sheepishly glanced at Derek, as he and his sister both give him disapproving looks, "You saw the lacrosse thing today."

"Yeah."

"Did it look that bad?" He asked, hesitantly.

Derek throws an arm around Scott and gave his shoulder a hardy squeeze. "Yeah."

They reached a door and the Alpha opened it to reveal a basement. "You want to learn? Let's start now." And he held out his arm to allow Scott to wander down first.

"What's down there?" Scott asked about halfway down the stairs.

"Motive," was the only reply he got.

"And what am I looking for?"

"Follow your senses…"

Scott wandered for a bit but Rayne remained behind Derek. This basement made her tingle and she hadn't even sharpened her senses yet. Besides, apparently Derek meant this as a training lesson for Scott and Rayne had absolutely no intention of interrupt his plans. Scott wanders around looking at things, "What happened down here?"

"The kind of thing that leaves an impression."

Scott sees a TV with a broken screen, then he traces scratches on the concrete floor, made by someone's nails. He sees a big white freezer in front of him, he reaches for the open lock, as Derek suddenly appears flashing the flashlight beam right in Scott's face, Rayne stands just behind him.

"Open it."

Scott removes the lock, lifts the latch and opens the top of the freezer, looking inside he sees hundreds of scratch marks. They cover each side as well as the lid, some of them even contain blood.

"This is why he said yes to you."

Derek again exchanges glances with Rayne, before he turns back to Scott, "Everyone wants power."

"If we help you, then you have to stop. You can't just go around turning people into werewolves."

"I can if they're willing."

Scott fixes his sister with a glare, "You approve of this Rayne?"

"We're Alpha's Scott, building a pack is what we do. As long as they are willing to obey and they know all the risks, why should we say no?"

"Did you tell Isaac about the Argents? About being hunted?"

"Yes, and he still asked." Rayne says.

"Then he's an idiot."

"And you're the idiot dating Argent's daughter. Yeah. I know your little secret. And if I know, how long do you think it's gonna take for them to find out?"

Scott glares at his sister and Derek growls at him, "Don't glare at your sister, she didn't tell me. You saw what happens to an Omega. With me, you will learn how to use all of your senses. With me, you'll learn control." Derek takes Scott's hand in his, Scott's claws extending, "Even on a full moon."

Scott jerks his hand back, "If I'm with you, I lose her."

"You're gonna lose her anyway. You know that."

Derek and Rayne turn and walk away, Scott calls them back, "Wait. I'm not part of your pack. But I want him out. He's my responsibility too."

"Why, because he's one of us?"

"Because he's innocent."

* * *

Derek and Rayne meet up with Stiles at the police station, sitting in the Jeep they watch through the window as a female deputy walks around inside.

"Okay, now the keys to every cell are in a password protected lockbox in my father's office. The problem is getting past the front desk."

"I'll distract her." Derek says reaching for the door handle.

Stiles panics grabbing Derek's shoulder, "Whoa, whoa, whoa… You? You're not going in there."

Derek eyes shift from Stiles hand to his face, twice, before Stiles gets the message, "I'm taking my hand off."

Rayne meanwhile is laughing behind her hand, watching the two interact.

"I was exonerated."

"You're still a person of interest."

"An innocent person."

"And… You? Yeah, right! Okay, fine. What's your plan?"

"To distract her." Derek says with a 'duh Stiles' look on his face.

"Uh huh, how? By punching her in the face?"

Stiles mimics getting punched in the face, Derek copies his face condescendingly, "By talking to her."

"Okay, all right. Give me a sample. What are you gonna open with?"

Rayne is barely containing her laughter, obviously Stiles has no idea the charm Derek possesses. Derek looks at him with a look that tells Rayne he might kill Stiles.

"Dead silence. That should work beautifully. Any other ideas?"

"Thinking about punching you in the face."

* * *

Derek walks inside with Stiles waiting just outside the door, Rayne waits outside watching Derek through the window. He saunters in, tapping his fingers on the counter. The Deputy walks out with her head down, "Good evening, how can I help…" She looks up and smiles, "You."

"Hi." Derek says giving her a thousand watt smile. Rayne's inner wolf snarls, even though she knows he's acting it still rubs her the wrong way to see him flirting.

"Hi."

Stiles rolls his eyes from the doorway.

"Uh, I had a question. Uh, sorry I'm a little… A little thrown. I wasn't really expecting someone…"

Stiles takes his opening, scurrying past the counter and into his father's office.

"Like me?" The Deputy giggles.

"Oh, I was gonna say "so incredibly beautiful," but, yeah, I guess that'd be the same thing."

Rayne trains her hearing on Stiles, if she doesn't she might just kill the Deputy. She hears him open the box, then she hears keys clinking, and Stiles whispers, "Oh, no." She realizes the hunter is here and has the keys. She hears the hunter grab Stiles and drag him to the holding cells.

She runs into the station, easily slipping past the guard and hurrying to the cells, she can hear Derek on her heels. As they enter the room Derek smashes a syringe containing Wolfsbane on the floor. Isaac has rendered the hunter unconscious, standing over him, he hears the vile smash. He turns seeing Stiles on the floor opposite him, Derek and Rayne see where he is headed. They turn roaring at him, fangs extended, red eyes flashing. Isaac shrinks back, frightened he falls to the ground, huddling against the wall hiding his face. When he looks back up, he's human again, his wolf subdued.

Stiles looks on confused, "How did you do that?"

Both of them look over their shoulders to Stiles, Derek answering, "We're the Alpha's."

* * *

"This is all your fault Rayne." Derek tells her as they walk down the stairs into the subway station.

Rayne whirled around her eyes burning with fury, "My fault?"

"Yeah. If Isaac was my Beta he wouldn't have been out of control like that."

"Oh yeah. Cause you're a model of self control Derek. We both know if you had more of it, your family would still be alive."

In a split second stars exploded in Rayne's vision, her left cheek on fire as she was thrown the length of the subway, slamming against the wall, her body leaving a dent before she fell to the ground. A snap was heard as she hit the concrete, her arm now bent at an unnatural angle. Rayne stood up, breathing hard, her back braced against the wall. Derek wouldn't meet her eyes, they both knew she was right but Derek's pride wouldn't let him admit it. He walked over to her taking her arm in his hands.

His focus was directed so entirely on making sure her arm was healing itself before his very eyes that he didn't notice the punch until it was too late. Her fist hit him right on the jaw and his head snapped up and back. But she didn't stop. Wrenching the other hand from his grasp, she shot him another punch. This time, blood blossomed from a cut over his eye by the ring she wore on her ring finger. Another punch, and another and another… but…

He wasn't defending himself.

Rayne realized that he was just standing there, taking each hit she was giving him. It made her instantly stop. Her hesitation allowed his face a chance to mend itself – the busted eyebrow stitching back together, his broken nose snapping back into the proper shape. But still, he just looked at her – waiting for her to hit him again. So, she pushed his shoulders and he stumbled a bit. She pushed him again. And again. And suddenly there was a wall and she kept pushing but there was nowhere for him to go, though he did leave a nice dent in the concrete.

Slowly, her pushes lost force. This wasn't right.

"What… are you doing?" She asked.

"You have energy you need to release," he explained simply, emotionlessly.

"Well— I can't fight you if you aren't going to fight back," she growled. She wanted a battle, a challenge— not a punching bag.

"You don't want me to fight— I'm a lot stronger than I used to be. I'll hurt you."

"Too late." He had already hurt her. She gave him another push. "Fight back," she snarled.

And then, she was being twisted around as he reversed their positions— slamming her into the wall.

It shook the whole room and she shouted out. But instantly, she was back on the offensive. Kicking out with her left leg she caught Derek behind the knee causing it to give out dropping him to his knee. Derek retaliated by picking her up over his head and tossing her backwards. Rayne landed on her feet, grabbing Derek by the back of his shirt and slamming him up against the wall. Something fell all the way on the other side of the station, inside his train car, but both of them ignored it.

Derek pushed off the wall catching Rayne off guard, her back slamming into a beam behind her. She groaned as Derek's weight all but crushed her into the concrete, the back of her head smacking a sharp point. As the blood started flowing she could feel the sticky mess her hair was becoming.

Flicking out her claws she dug them into Derek's back drawing a roar from the Alpha. He ripped away from her, turning his hand shot out and wrapped around her throat. Rayne struggled against his vise grip as black spots began to swarm her vision.

Then suddenly he lifted her up and pushed her completely against the wall again and… kissed her.

Feverish lips met snarling fangs and moist tongues. She was being crushed— by his lips, by his chest, by his hard body against hers. With a mind of their own, her legs wrapped themselves around his waist and suddenly his hip bones were pressing down on an area Rayne hadn't really given much thought to.

Her hands ran up and down his neck and over his shoulders and biceps. They then worked their way to his back.

And then the claws came out. The she-wolf was more than awake and ready to make things just that much more interesting. Her nails dug into his lower back and cut shallow lines into his skin as they worked their way upwards. Derek growled into her mouth and gave his hips a forceful thrust forward. The sound that escaped her mouth was more of a yelp and partially a moan. God, what was this man doing to her?

As his revenge, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and forced her head back with a snap and a breathy whine from the abused she-wolf. His mouth attacked her neck and she was damn near panting as his tongue slicked along her pulse point. Gently at first, he nibbled his way down. But at her collarbone, he sunk his fangs straight in.

A howl escaped her mouth and dissolved into a series of whimpers as he continued to nip at the skin around the wound.

She tugged at his hair a bit— not with enough force to pull him away from the sensitive areas along her neck, but he still growled against her throat. The vibration worked its way up to rattle her teeth a bit. On impulse, she gave his hair one harsh, strong tug and he lifted his head to meet her gaze, thinking that this was her way of telling him to stop.

But instead, she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled his lips back to hers. It appeared that she missed his presence there. With renewed permission, Derek kissed her lips with bruising force knocking the breath from her lungs.

And then the motherfucking door burst open.

Derek was halfway across the station by the time her brother appeared on the top steps. Rayne was not quite as quick. She leaned against the wall, bracing herself on the rough brick because her legs felt like jelly.

'_Oh Lord. I'm gonna be an only child shortly.'_

"What is it, Scott?" To his credit, Derek didn't sound half as winded as Rayne felt.

The boy glanced between Derek and Rayne and gave a little sniff. Even in the darkness, Rayne could see the blush that appeared on his cheeks. With an inner groan, Rayne stood up completely and waved her hand to tell him to explain why he was there. And why he had interrupted them. Rayne was still trying to figure out if she was grateful, or pissed.

"I think whatever killed Isaac's father was just at his house," Scott said.

"What?" Derek took a step closer to the boy.

"I was locked in the box and Allison was upstairs. I heard her scream and I went up there and the thing was on the ceiling and it just… crawled right passed us. I can't explain it."

"Did you get a good look at it?" Was Derek's first question.

"No, it was too dark and I was more concerned about Allison… but," he trailed off and his face crunched up in concentration. "It didn't look like us. It didn't move like us. It's not a wolf," he concluded.

Derek scowled as he processed the information and only Rayne had the foresight to ask, "Is Allison alright?"

"Yea…" He said. "A little shook up, but I took her home. She's safe now."

"Good," Rayne said smiling.

Scott's face twisted into a look of, 'so, what exactly did I interrupt?' But Rayne ignored it in favor of glancing at the time on her phone and announcing, "We should go home."

That right there broke Derek's concentration and he glanced at her. He held her gaze for only a bit before agreeing. "I'll take you both home."

"I can walk," she threw out there.

Derek picked up his jacket and shrugged it on. "Scott just said he encountered a murderous creature. And that he no longer knows where it is. You aren't going alone."

"Fine." She honestly didn't have the energy to argue with him.

When the man turned around to disappear into his train car, Rayne noted the claw marks she'd left on his back were gone— but not the tears in his shirt. Scott noticed them too and shot her another look. She just shrugged and the boy waved as he disappeared out the door, he'd wait in the car. Then something occurred to her. Reaching up, she fingered the deep bite-mark he had made. Yup. That was still there. And still bleeding. And without the pheromones and adrenaline, she could feel it sharply. Asshole.

* * *

He pulled up outside of her house, Rayne lifted the seat up letting Scott get out and head inside.

But she didn't get out.

"Are we going to talk about what happened, or just pretend like it never occurred?" She finally asked. She spoke pretty tonelessly, because any energy she had had was gone— wasted on healing her body, wasted on fighting an unmoving man, wasted on making out with the aforementioned man.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Was his only response.

"I should wait till tomorrow and get a good nights rest to process it," she replied. "But I'm impatient." There was a pause and finally she asked, "Why'd you do it?"

Derek just kind of fingered the rim of his steering wheel before saying, "If you're waiting for a declaration of love, it's not going to happen."

Anger inflamed her brain and she snapped, "Forget it," and pushed the door open.

"Rayne." His voice stopped her. "You're young. You shouldn't be mixed up with someone like me, and you know why we can't be together."

She leaned back in the leather seat. "I'm the same age as you stupid," she said. "And since when does age have anything to do with it? Derek I've been mixed up with you since we were kids."

"I was sixteen when I got mixed up with Kate," he finally admitted. "Yeah I was stupid and I've been paying for it everyday of my life. But we know what will happen between us and I don't want to take the chance of losing you Rayne."

"Right…" Rayne tried not to sound too biting, but her neck hurt and the full moon was still out and brighter than ever. She wouldn't be surprised if her eyes were red. "Because there's so much evidence to prove we wouldn't work."

He shot her a look and gripped the steering wheel a bit too tightly. "I don't want to lead you on."

"You never have," she sighed. "You've never made any promises. I'm not sitting here, expecting anything, I just—"

"You're attracted to me," he said sharply.

Rayne shut her mouth with a click and then replied, "Oh good boy, give him a gold star. Yes idiot. You knew that. You've known that since forever ago." After a brief pause, she ventured, "Are you attracted to me Derek?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "If that's not obvious at this point, I'm going to seriously question your critical thinking skills."

"I haven't learned to use my senses to their full ability yet," she snarked sarcastically. "My best friend always said he'd help me hone them but he hasn't been around much."

Instantly, she knew she had crossed the line. Everything about Derek tightened and his jaw clenched so roughly, she thought he'd crack a tooth.

"Derek." But he didn't look at her. Grabbing his face by his jaw, she yanked his head so that she could look him in the eyes. "I was kidding. You just surprised me, is all. Calm down. Please. I don't like seeing you like this— all, self-loathing and crap. You're better than that." He slowly relaxed and her wolf calmed down. She should probably be more worried about the effect Derek had on her wolf. Brushing that away, she asked, "Now tell me, what's really bothering you?"

His hand reached up and pulled hers away from his face. But he didn't let her wrist go.

"I'm attracted to you," he finally repeated. "You're physically, mentally and emotionally… compatible with me." He shrugged. "I like you. I always have. But, I don't want to ruin you. I have a lot more experience, I'm rough, I'm moody. I don't want to ruin you the same way—"

"I thought we've established that you and Kate are nothing alike," she interrupted.

"Fine," he agreed. "But still— I… Kate was my first love…"

Rayne interrupted him with a pointed look, "We both know Kate wasn't your first love... or your second."

Derek's eyes grew dark for a moment, he ignored Rayne's comment. "And because she was using me to get at my family, she was absolutely incapable of loving me back. And while the pain of losing my family was obviously worse, losing her still really screwed me up in the head— to realize that you can give a person everything without them ever giving you anything back. That… something like that was possible. I've dated other women— back in New York. Every single one of those relationships failed because eventually they wanted something that I couldn't give them. I don't want your first real relationship to be with someone who could never love you back. Plus you know what we were told by my parents, we're both Alpha's now, it's dangerous for us. I don't want to hurt you and we both know, that's exactly what will happen when our wolves clash for dominance."

Rayne looked at him for a long moment and realized that he must have been thinking about this for a while. The way his explanation flowed, it had been a concern for him for a decent amount of time. But exactly how long had this been weighing on his mind?

Finally, she said, "I think you're underestimating the power of love."

She nearly cringed at the cheesiness of the sentence as it slipped from her mouth. But Derek seemed genuinely intrigued or perhaps, confused, by her answer. His grip tightened on her wrist— but he still refused to say anything. He released her wrist and she got out of the car and closed the door. But before she allowed him to drive off, she stuck her head back in the window.

"Your mom once told me something, the worst thing you can do in life is overthink things," she informed him. "Don't overthink. Not about what's in your head, in your past, or your future." She smiled a bit. "What's meant to happen, will. That sounds… super fatalistic, but it's true. Don't fight it. By the time you realize what it is you want, it just may be too late."

And then she walked away.


	3. Ice Pick

******Disclaimer - I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

**Marine76 - **Yes I think we can all agree Scott has horrible timing. As per your polite request here is chapter 3 :)

On a side note I am posting another Teen Wolf story. It follows the storyline starting at Season 2 with another of my original characters. I also have posted a Walking Dead story called Reality Bites, along with a Battleship story and a Covenant fic. If you like please check them out.

Xoxo Tiearney

* * *

Scott called Rayne and told her all about what had happened in the gym class. About Allison tricking him and telling him he was going to grow a tail. Then he told her that Erica had been placed against Stiles in climbing the rock wall. She had gotten maybe a quarter of the way up when she started freaking out. They'd been able to coax her down and they thought that that was the end of it. Once again, apparently it wasn't that simple. She had returned to the wall— this time without a harness. And then she had fallen. Luckily, Scott had been able to prevent her from getting hurt from the fall, but he hadn't been able to prevent her seizure that followed.

A hour later Rayne made her way to the lair, "Hey D. You still looking for people to turn?"

Derek nodded, she had caught his attention. "Yeah, the bigger the pack the better odds we have. Why? You got someone in mind?"

"Uh, yeah. There's a girl…" she trailed off, trying to figure out how best to describe her. "She's sweet and very shy… she's also an epileptic. I think she'd have a lot of potential as a wolf— potential she'll never reach as a human with her condition. I think she'd really benefit from the bite."

For a moment, Derek searched her face. "She a friend of yours?"

"She goes to school with Scott. I think she'd take the bite in a heartbeat."

"Are you talking about Erica?" Isaac spoke up for the first time. "The girl who had that seizure in the lunchroom a couple of days ago?"

"Mmhmm. According to Scott, she had another one today," Rayne explained, then she shrugged at Derek. "She was supposed to be climbing a rock wall in gym but couldn't do it during class. She freaked out and had to come back down. But later, she went back to the wall— she was climbing it without a harness when her seizure hit. I just… I think that says something about the kind of potential she'd have if she was given the chance. It's just a suggestion. Do with it what you will."

"Where is she now?" Derek asked.

To be honest, Rayne was surprised that Derek was considering it. At some level, she knew she owed the girl at least the decency to mention her name to the one man who could give her what she wanted. And she liked the girl well enough. But she hadn't known if Derek would be willing to take on another she-wolf, especially one so young and weak.

"At the hospital, my mom's taking care of her."

"Let's go. You've peaked my curiosity. Isaac, you stay here."

"Can't I come along and wait in the car?" The boy wanted to know. And suddenly, he seemed exactly his age.

"Until we've established your innocence, you're not going anywhere without my permission," Derek said. "You will stay here."

Heading back to the stairs, Rayne snatched up her coat and threw it on. Once the two were safely outside, Derek reached over and yanked the collar of her coat down. He nodded after he was assured that the marks he had made the night before were long since healed.

After a brief moment of wondering if she had just damned Erica to the fate of death by werewolf bite, she got in the car and they sped off.

* * *

Using the excuse that she was visiting her mom, Rayne told Derek to wait in the morgue, while she scoped the hospital for Erica. She heard her mom's voice coming from an exam room, she stood patiently by the door listening.

"It's been awhile since we saw you Erica. You were being so good about taking your medication."

"Are you gonna tell my mom?"

"Well, I swear I don't want to, but there's this team of lawyers in the back who would break my legs, and I don't know if you've seen my legs, but for a girl my age, they're still pretty hot. So…"

Both girls smiled as Melissa smoothed Erica's hair back, "Doctor's gonna be in in a minute, okay?"

"Okay." Erica said before she drifted off to sleep.

Rayne waited until her mom had left before she pushed the gurney holding Erica down the hall. Halfway the girl opened her eyes looking around, Rayne held her head still, "Lie still Erica." Gingerly, Rayne wheeled Erica into the room as Derek looked up. She was in a hospital gown and shaking like a leaf. What had the big scary she-wolf done to the girl?

Instantly, Erica noticed the man standing by her bed. She sat up and glanced between Rayne and Derek. The Alpha ignored her gaze and instead read the pill bottle in his hands. "Side effects may include anxiety, weight gain, acne," he recited. "…ulcerative colitis…" Wincing a bit, he made a sympathetic noise in the back of his throat.

"Who are you?" Erica finally found her voice. Then she turned to the woman, "Rayne? What's going on? Who is he?"

Derek just smiled at her.

A bit annoyed, Rayne spoke up. "He's a friend. He's here to help you. Trust me."

"You get a warning, right before you have a seizure," Derek said. Like the predator he was, he rounded the hospital bed and leaned in a bit. Even Rayne felt the air thicken a bit.

"It's called an aura." Erica's shaking was increasing and Rayne hoped she wasn't about to have another seizure. "It's… It's like a metallic taste in my mouth," she finished.

"You don't have to lie, Erica," Derek semi-scowled at her. It occurred to Rayne that she had never seen Derek acting like this before… all… suave and seductive, it irked her wolf greatly. "What's it really taste like?"

Her throat constricted visibly before she admitted, "It tastes like blood."

Derek stood there just observing her for a bit and the girl began to squirm. Rayne frowned. He was making her so nervous – she could feel Erica's heartbeat from where she stood by the door. Finally, he said, "What if I told you, that all of this could go away?" Her eyes grew wide. "The side-effects," he purred as his hand slid up her calf. Rayne felt her hands clench her claws barely piercing the flesh of her palms. "The symptoms." He ran his other hand up her other leg to her knee. "All of it," he said.

And then suddenly, his hands circled her ankles and yanked her forward. They were nearly nose-to-nose. "And what if all those things not only went away… But everything else," he paused to push some of her golden blonde hair behind her ear. This time Rayne's claws broke through the skin of her palms, she could feel the rush of blood coating her hand. "Got even better," he finally concluded.

Rayne took a deep breath and looked away. She really didn't want to see this. She really didn't want to be here.

Suddenly the conversation they had had in his car the night before came running back to her – he had said that he didn't want to lead her on. Was this what he meant? She had never seen him like this— ever. Ever, ever. She wouldn't have even believed he was capable of acting like this. Even when he had kissed her— or made out with her or whatever, it had been rough. It had been harsh and by no means was she complaining but… it was much different than how he was acting now. He had been gentle with her once— when they were younger after his family died, he had held her. At some level, she had liked that more than the rough make-out session.

Rayne barely heard Erica ask, "How?"

However, her ears were particularly sensitive to Derek's voice and she easily caught him saying, "Let me show you."

She knew Derek's eyes were the beautiful fire red she loved. "I'll wait outside," Rayne announced. And before he could tell her otherwise, she was out the door and in the hall. Through the door she heard him explain about the werewolves, the hunters, everything the girl needed to know. And Rayne heard her agree to the bite.

She needed to breathe, she realized. What she truly and desperately needed was a good intake of oxygen because something in her head wasn't right. Something wasn't clicking in the way it should have been and she realized what it was.

For the first time in her life, Rayne was jealous.

And for a moment, she couldn't believe it. Rayne had never been the jealous type and part of her wanted to blame it all on the wolf, but she knew that wasn't the case. It was the way Derek was talking to Erica— even though at some level she knew that he was just trying to make the bite seem more appealing.

Rayne wanted him to talk to her like that. But… she knew he never would. There was always going to be something holding him back. His own issues, the fact that the man in there wasn't the Derek she knew. It just wasn't the way he was— the way he acted, the way he thought. Maybe, under all kinds of layers, he was like that. But she knew she'd never get the chance to see it. He would hold back with her because he was scared of "killing" her.

That made her sad.

It made her want to break every single layer of Derek-exterior and find the man inside.

And then the door opened and he stepped out. "It's done," Derek announced. His face became a frown as he studied her. "You're jealous."

"In your dreams wolf boy," she shot back quickly, pushing passed him.

Erica was reclining on the hospital bed, her gown pushed up right under her breasts. At least she was wearing underwear. But when Rayne noticed where Derek had bit her— right on the hip— a little bit of that nasty old thing called jealousy worked its way up her throat. The girl was heaving a bit, fingering the bite mark.

"You okay?" Rayne asked the girl, coming to stand beside her.

"Yes… I feel…great." The girl gave a moan that was more pleasure than pain.

Rayne raised her eyebrows and glanced at Derek, "What did you do to this girl?" Derek rolled his eyes at her as she turned back to Erica. "That's good."

"Is this what happened to you?" Erica asked. "You got bit by a werewolf and everything you were… became so much better." A huge smile tugged her lips ear to ear. It did wonders in lighting up her face. "I'm going to be better," she said. "So much better."

"No actually, I was born a wolf, so I never got to experience "the bite," but yes, everything is better." Rayne felt Derek place a hand on her shoulder. "I have to get back to Isaac," he told them. "Finish things here and come home." She nodded knowing what home he meant.

And then he was gone.

"Damn he's fine." Erica said. Already her eyes were lighting up— not glowing the signature yellow, but they had a new life in them.

"Yeah, but don't tell him that. He's ego's big enough as it is." Rayne said, poking her head out the door to make sure no one was around. Rayne returned to Erica's side, "Lie back down. I'm taking you back to your room." Sharpening her senses, she made sure to avoid anyone who might stop them. Once she had Erica back where she was supposed to be, Rayne glanced at her chart. "So now we wait for your doctor to come waltzing in here and tell you that you need to take your medication, blah, blah, blah."

The blonde gave her a sly smile. "But that's not a problem anymore, is it? I mean, I don't have to depend on medication anymore?" She let out another moan that nearly turned into a howl.

"Nope," Rayne returned the smile.

"Did you tell him about me?" Erica asked, reclining a bit and snuggling her body into the soft mattress.

"About you?"

"Yeah, did you tell him I needed the bite?"

Rayne shrugged. "I told him you had a lot of potential," she said honestly. "You seem to have taken to the bite very well."

Once more, she stretched her body out like she had only just recently been introduced to it. "I feel reborn," she practically purred.

Just then, her doctor arrived and Rayne was ushered from the room. "I'm gonna get out of here," she told Erica. "You seem like you're doing well. I'll be back for you tomorrow."

And then she was gone, on her way back to the lair.

* * *

When she got there her spine gave a little shiver and she knew someone was looking at her.

"Hey Derek," she said.

"She doing okay?"

"Very well," she shot back, suddenly very angry. "She is doing just fine, I would say."

The Alpha rolled his eyes and then muttered, "Don't overthink it," before he disappeared into the train car again.

What the fuck did that mean?

* * *

The next day, Rayne stopped by the school with Derek to pick up Erica, she waltzed in catching stares from the high school guys. She found the new Beta heading into the cafeteria, she leaned against the wall opposite the doors watching the show. Rayne had to give herself props on the quick lessons in fashion, hair and makeup she had given the new she-wolf last night. The girl was rocking animal-print high heels, a tight short black leather skirt, a tight white shirt that showed her nice cleavage and a black leather jacket. Her makeup was flawless and her blonde hair was curled floating around her face. Rayne smiled as she watched heads turn to stare at the other girl. Erica, to her credit, was strutting into the room like a badass bitch.

She strode over to a boy, picking up his apple and taking a bite of it. Rayne hears Lydia speaking to her brother and Stiles, "What the holy hell is that?"

"It's Erica." Scott's eyes traveled outside the cafeteria to see his sister leaning against the wall, smirking, she gives him a curt wave. "And my sister."

Erica walked back to Rayne, the girls high fiving one another as they strode down the hallway and into the parking lot. Scott and Stiles made it outside just in time to see Erica climb in the back of Derek's car, Rayne settling into the passenger seat. Derek looks over at them giving them a big grin before he speeds out of the parking lot.

* * *

Later that night Erica and Rayne were chatting in the lair, "Well I'm still gonna try Rayne." Erica had said. "To get into his pants. I'm just curious to see if he'd let me. If he doesn't, no harm— but if he does… well— I imagine there's got to be a place of honor for the girlfriend of the Alpha." Erica had winked and walked away with a little chuckle.

Rayne remembered the shot of jealousy and anger that had shot through her with that comment. It hadn't occurred to Rayne that Erica would be attracted to Derek. But it seemed she didn't want Derek, but the status of being the Alpha's girl. It wasn't like Derek himself wasn't a prize— he was one handsome man and even though sometimes he forgot that speaking in words and not grunts would make more people understand him, he was still a pretty decent guy. Part of Rayne was really irked that Erica only wanted him for the status… but another part of Rayne understood what she was doing. She was testing the waters— seeing who was interested in her now and how far she could take certain men. And honestly, the little display Derek had put on the night he was going to give her the bite had definitely put some ideas in the girl's head.

And it wasn't like Erica knew that Rayne and him kinda had a thing. Maybe. Big emphasis on the maybe. Surely Erica would follow girl code and back off if Rayne set her straight? Or perhaps Rayne just needed to remind the Beta who the Alpha was, and if that meant beating the new Beta to a pulp when then so be it.

Smirking, Rayne shook her head to clear her thoughts, she turned her attention back to her laptop.

* * *

Hours later, she heard the door creak open. Rayne had heard him pull up in his car, so she'd been expecting him.

"You smell like ice," she said. Half a heartbeat later, she realized she sounded vaguely like a nagging girlfriend.

"You smell like Isaac," he shot back, whipping his jacket off.

"He's my Beta and taking the role of my pseudo-brother pretty seriously," Rayne shrugged and set her laptop aside. "Who knew he'd be so clingy…"

Derek's low warning growl silenced her. When he saw she wasn't going to speak again, he informed her, "I was at the ice rink. Erica mentioned something and I decided to check it out."

He looked up to notice Rayne was paying him no mind at all. He rolled his eyes and asked, "Do you want to know what I was doing or not?" Rayne said nothing. "Erica and Isaac mentioned a possible pack member— Boyd. He's kind of a loner, he's very strong and muscular. Apparently, she used to sit with him their freshman year. He was new to Beacon Hills last year and is still desperate for friends."

"Yeah, I know of him, you talked to him?"

"Yeah," Derek sighed and sat down. "He seems willing and seems like a good candidate."

"You didn't turn him?"

"No, he asked for a night to think it over." He ran a hand through his hair and glanced over at Rayne with an exasperated expression.

Rayne ignored it in favor of asking, "So is this the last one?"

The Alpha suddenly stood and began to pace, muttering, "Yeah, I think so."

"And you've totally discounted Jackson at this point?"

"Entirely," Derek said. "Even if the bite had worked, you were right— he wasn't gonna be part of the pack. He's got his own agenda." He seemed rather distracted.

"Are you okay?" She finally asked, getting concerned. She had never seen him this agitated before.

"You smell like Isaac."

"And you smell like ice. We've established that." But still, she stood up and crossed her arms.

"I can't concentrate with you smelling like Isaac," he damn near complained.

Her eyebrows shot up and she argued, "He's my pack mate. My Beta. We spend time together. Our scents are going to intermingle."

"Not like this," he gestured to the girl. "You're experienced enough to know the differences between scents. The way you smell right now is very indicative of being touched—" He approached the Alpha and dug his forefinger into first her right hip, then her right shoulder. "Touched here, and here," he said. Then his hand came up and cupped her cheek. "And here."

Rayne took a deep breath. Part of her wanted to pull away and snark something about not overthinking it. Another part of her— the larger part of her, wanted him to kiss her. She wanted him to realize that he was jealous of Isaac the same way she was jealous of Erica. She wanted him to not overthink it and kiss her with the kind of tenderness he'd withheld from her before.

Finally, he just scowled and pulled away, snapping, "Take a shower or something next time."

"Yes, my Alpha," she shot back, sarcastically saluting him and collected her things. "What a dick." She muttered as she left the car.

* * *

Rayne went to the school looking for Erica and Isaac, she was giving them a ride home. She spotted them down the hallway and the only thing between her and them was Gerard Argent, the new Principle. She knew all about him, she'd had interaction with him when she was younger. This one thought that all werewolves were dangerous creatures that needed to be put down. He turned towards her, recognition drawing across his face as he approached her.

"Why Rayne McCall, look how you've grown."

"Gerard. It's been a long time. How was Kate's funeral?" She smirked as his face contorted in pure fury.

"Almost as lovely as yours will be."

"Oh, you designed my funeral, that is so sweet. But I really think you should be planning yours, it will come sooner than you think. Then again a random hole in the woods would do just fine for your rotting corpse. Or we could toss you in with Kate, she was always your baby."

There now he had a reason to think she was dangerous. Her spine straightened and with a fiery purpose she locked eyes with the old man, maintaining eye contact the entire time. Gerard cackled as he grasped her hand, gripping it tightly, pulling her close to his face.

"I will finish what I started with the Hale's, and after I've killed Derek, I'll kill you."

Rayne felt her wolf twitch and she knew her eyes were a fierce and proud red. The man's gaze flickered— ah, so there was a crack in his façade. Good.

"I look forward to you trying, I hope failure isn't hard for you to swallow."

With grace, she continued down the hallway and into the parking lot, the two Betas following her.

Oh yes, this Alpha she-wolf was dangerous.

* * *

They were waiting for Scott somewhere in the back part of the rink. Rayne was sitting on the counter, bored, when Isaac spoke up, "You shouldn't provoke the hunters."

Rayne glanced up at the Beta at the same time Derek glanced at her. "What did you do?" He instantly asked.

"Nothing," she sighed giving her Beta a deathly glare.

"Eh, didn't look like nothing," Isaac baited again.

"What. Did. You. Do?" Derek grit out.

Isaac smiled and said, "She caught the principal looking at her and they exchanged some very heated words. It was pretty badass, if I do say so myself. But Gerard didn't look all that happy."

Derek's glare intensified and Rayne forced herself to explain, "He was smiling at me. And it was a creepy smile. He started talking shit so I made sure he knew I wasn't one to be messed with."

"He didn't know about you before this!" Derek snarled, grabbing her shoulder.

"He knew me by name Derek. Even if he had forgotten me, did you forget his son is Chris? He knows what I am, do you think he hasn't told Gerard?"

His grip tightened, but Erica's arrival made him let go completely. The blonde glanced between her Alpha's and finally she just shrugged. "You were supposed to stall Stiles," Derek scolded.

"I did. He's stalled. Now, I want to fight."

The clicking of an open door signaled them that their prey had arrived. But right before they entered the rink itself, Rayne grabbed Derek's wrist, "If there's a fight— I won't participate. I'm not going to hurt my brother and if it gets out of hand, your new Betas, will be minus their throats."

A low growl left his throat and he ripped his arm from her grip. She trailed behind, keeping a reasonable distance from the now pissed off Alpha.

"If you're looking for friends," Scott was saying. "You can do… a lot better than Derek."

"That really hurts, Scott," Derek said – announcing their presence. "I mean, if you're going to review me, at least take a consensus. Erica, how's life been for you since we met?"

The she-wolf was busy twirling her hair. "Hmm. In a word… Transformative." And then she let out a fierce roar Rayne hadn't thought she was capable of making baring her fangs.

"Isaac?" The Alpha inquired. "Oh wait. You can't count him for me… Because I didn't turn him." Derek smirked, giving a sideways glance to Rayne, who sighed closing her eyes. Fucking Derek, this was her payback for not being 100% behind him, because he knew full well she didn't want Scott to know she had turned Isaac.

Scott stared at his sister, unbelieving what he was hearing, "Rayne?"

"It's true Scott, I turned him." She gave a glance to Isaac who took over. "Well," he began. "I'm a little bummed about being a fugitive, but other than that, I'm great." He smiled wide enough to show his fangs.

"Okay, hold on," Scott said. "This isn't exactly a fair fight."

"Then go home Scott." With just a glance at the Betas, Derek summoned them up to fight. They began stalking towards Scott and Rayne just crossed her arms, hoping… That Scott didn't kill the two Betas.

Scott's fist slammed down, shattering the ice around it, "I meant fair for them." Scott gives a fierce growl.

* * *

At some level, as much as she was growing fond of Isaac and Erica— Rayne wasn't surprised when Scott quite literally slid them back to Derek's feet. Those two still had a lot to learn. Derek had the sense to smile at Scott's power.

"Don't you get it?" Scott said. "He's not doing this for you! He's just adding to his own power, okay? It's all about him." Rayne saw, from her position beside him, the muscles in Derek's neck clench in indignation. "He makes you feel like he's giving you some kind of gift, when all he's done is turn you into a bunch of guard dogs!"

"It's true," Derek admitted. "It is about power."

Slowly, the Alpha approached Scott, shifting parts of him and then… Rayne watched as Derek kicked Scott's ass. Sure, Scott managed to get one hit in, but he still ended up on the floor, spitting out blood.

And then, Derek stepped on Scott's collarbone so hard that Rayne heard a snap. That's when she intervened, with no spoken warning Rayne shifted and dug her nails into Derek's back, lifting him up and tossing him back over with his Betas. He stood up slowly, green eyes locking with red as she roared at him, "That's enough Derek."

Derek growled at her, but after a moment he realized she was protecting her brother, if he'd been in her shoes he would've done the same thing.

Rayne shifted back and kneeled down next to Scott, as Boyd hopped down from the Zamboni. "Don't. You don't wanna be like them." Scott said to him.

"You're right." Boyd lifted up his shirt revealing a healing bite. "I want to be like you."

As the three Betas walked away with Derek, Rayne stayed behind helping Scott up. She drove him to the vet so she could clean him up. He walked in before her muttering, "Why aren't you healing?"

Dr. Deaton's voice surprised her as she entered the room behind her brother. "Because it's from an Alpha." The siblings looked to the body lying on the exam table, a human body.

"I think maybe we better have that talk now."

* * *

Afterwards she returned to face Derek, they were still together in this, there was a bigger picture beyond the fights with her brother to keep sight of.

Instinctively, they all had returned to the hideout. But when they arrived, their Alpha was nowhere to be seen. Erica sat down with a huff beside Boyd. Rayne was busy wondering if she had overstepped some boundaries by protecting her brother. Surely, she had. She had also probably overstepped some boundaries when she let the Alpha get to second base with her.

"What Scott said back there…" Isaac trailed off.

"It's not true," Rayne shot back instantly.

"Are you sure?" Boyd asked. Great— the kid had only just gotten the bite and was having second thoughts.

With a sigh, Rayne explained, "The only person Derek bit prior to learning that the hunters had decided on a free-for-all, was Jackson. And Jackson knew about wolves, knew about the hunters and had been practically begging for the bite – he also saved our lives when we were dealing with the first Alpha… the crazy one. Derek isn't the kind of person to build up a pack just to build up a pack— regardless of what it does for his power. We all know that the Argents are a very real threat. They will chop us in half without a second thought. And before you three, it was just Derek and I. Scott's an Omega— but when it comes to the Argents, Scott will fight to survive and protect those he cares about. Derek and I never would have survived against the Argents so building up a pack was the only way— you see, we're stronger in packs. Not just the Alpha— but all of us. So the bigger the pack— yes, the more people in danger, but also the more likely we all will survive. I knew Derek before he was an Alpha— even when he was a Beta he protected his own. He will protect us. We just have to trust him," she concluded.

"Do you?" Erica wanted to know.

"With my life." Rayne said instantly. And it was true. Yeah, sure, sometimes he did things she didn't agree with. But he was still her best friend, still her Alpha, still the man who sometimes pushed her up against walls and kissed her.

* * *

Rayne was the last to leave. Her foot touched the first step and Derek's voice from inside his train car stopped her. "Rayne, come here," he commanded.

She obliged for once stepping inside the car. "Yeah?"

He had been lounging on his mattress with a book in his hand, but stood when she came in. "Did you mean what you said? To them?"

"You… heard that?" His stoic look told her that yes, he had been eavesdropping. "Of course you did… I meant it," she finally admitted.

With a scowl he argued, "You don't take orders and you constantly question me."

"Derek you and I both know, that's just me. I've been this way since we were kids. We're both Alphas, we're going to butt heads and question one another. If I didn't trust you to keep us all safe, I would have bolted a long time ago." Rayne shrugged. "Just because sometimes we don't see eye-to-eye doesn't mean I don't think you're a good leader— or a good person. Though… you are grumpy a lot. Sourwolf."

Derek actually smiled a little at her nickname for him, "Now I know where Stiles came up with it," Derek finally muttered.

After a long moment of searching his face, Rayne finally bit her lip, took a step closer to him and put her arms around his waist. She hadn't actually ever hugged him since they were kids. When his arms slid around her shoulders, she knew she had done well.

"Stay with me," he whispered against her hair.


	4. Abomination

******Disclaimer - I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

**PureSourwolfHale - **I actually did cry a little as I was writing the interaction between Derek and Rayne, so don't feel alone. Yes I believe they do deserve one another :)

**High Serpent King - **Yes Rayne does not back down when it comes to the hunters. She can easily battle with words as well as her claws. Don't worry there will be a few more verbal matches with the hunters, particularly Gerard.

Xoxo Tiearney

* * *

Rayne is lying on the mattress, Derek wrapped around her, she knows he hasn't slept much lately so instead of waking him she stays still and replays last nights talk in her mind.

* * *

_"They're coming back so we don't have much time." Dr. Deaton tells the McCall siblings._

"_What is that?" Scott asks as the Doc picks up a cotton ball soaked in something._

"_Rubbing alcohol. You don't want it to get infected, do you?" Scott shakes his head. "You'll heal the same. Just not as quickly, because of Derek."_

"_Okay, how do you know all this? Actually, how do you know anything?"_

"_It's a longer story. What I can tell you is that I know about your kind. Your kind, I can help. This…" He looks to the human body on the table, the torsos flesh completely shredded. "This is something different."_

"_Well, do you know what did it?"_

"_No. But the Argents will. And this is the crucial part. They'll have some kind of record or book. It'll have descriptions, histories, notations of all the things they've discovered."_

_Scott stammers, "All the things? How many different things are there?"_

_They hear a car approach, Deaton ushers the siblings into another small room. The bells on the front door jingle as the hunters waltz in like they own the place._

"_I'm starting to think I need to buy a more prominent "closed" sign."_

_Chris sighs moving away from the door, the bigger hunter following him, and Gerard walking into the room smirking at Deaton. "Hello Alan. It's been awhile. The last I heard, you had retired."_

"_Last I heard, you followed a code of conduct."_

"_If you hadn't noticed, this body is one of ours." Chris interjected, Scott and Rayne hiding in a dark room listening._

"_I did. I also noticed the gunpowder residue on his fingertips. So don't assume I'll be swayed by your philosophy just cause I'll answer a few questions."_

"_He was only 24," Chris tells him._

"_Killers come in all ages," Deaton retorts looking pointedly at Gerard._

"_All ages, sizes, shapes. It's the last one that concerns us."_

_Chris gets impatient, "How about you tell us what you found?"_

_Deaton moves to the head of the body, picking up the neck and turning it so they can see the cut on the back of the neck. "See this cut? Precise. Almost surgical. But this isn't the wound that killed him. This had a more interesting purpose."_

"_Relating to the spine." Gerard says catching on._

"_That's right. Whatever made this cut was laced with a paralytic toxin potent enough to disable all motor functions." He waves his hand over the claws marks stretching from the neck to the sternum, "These were the cause of death. Notice the pattern on each side."_

"_Five for each finger." Chris says._

"_Each claw." Gerard corrects._

"_As you can see, it dug in, slashed upward, eviscerating the lungs and slicing through the bone of the rib cage with ease."_

"_Have you ever seen anything like this before?" Chris implores._

"_No."_

"_Any idea at all what killed him?"_

"_No. But I can tell you it's fast, remarkably strong, and has the capacity to render its victims essentially helpless within seconds."_

"_If you're saying we should be cautious, we get it."_

"_I'm saying you should be afraid. Be very afraid. Because in the natural world, predators with paralytic toxins use them to catch and eat their prey. This prey wasn't eaten. That means whatever killed him only wanted to kill him. In fact, killing may be its only purpose."_

* * *

Rayne learned a lot that night, but she and Scott decided to keep what they knew from Derek. It wasn't that Rayne didn't trust Derek, it was that Derek didn't trust her. Family came first and Scott was her blood, if it came down to him or Derek, it wouldn't be Derek. As much as it would hurt her to not have Derek around, it would kill her to not have her brother.

She felt Derek shift in his sleep and roll over, freeing her from his embrace, Rayne took the opportunity to get up from the bed. Her phone rings and she goes outside the car to answer it, SCOTT flashing on the screen.

"Scott? What's wrong?"

"That thing killed someone else, at the mechanics garage. Rayne… It almost killed Stiles."

"I'll met you at the house in ten."

Rayne grabbed her things, not waiting to see if Derek was awake, this only concerned family. She drove to her house and parked her truck. Getting into the car with Scott they drove to the garage to see Stiles. He runs over getting into the car, Rayne moves to the back to give him the passenger seat. She gives him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, seeing that he's okay is a relief to her.

"You okay?" Scott asks him.

"Yeah."

"You're right. It's not like you two. I mean, its eyes were almost, like, reptilian. But there was something about them."

"What do you mean sweetie?" Rayne says laying her hand over his.

"You know when you see, like, a friend in a Halloween mask, but all you can actually see are their eyes, and you feel like you know them, but you just can't figure it out who it is?"

Rayne nods. "Are you saying you know who it is?" Scott asks concerned.

Stiles sighs, fear written on his face. "No. But I think it knew me."

* * *

Rayne parts with the boys after making sure they both get home safely, driving back to the lair she tries to piece everything about this new threat together.

Entering the hideout, she glances around. Boyd was in his usual spot, sitting on the bottom few steps. Isaac was trying and failing to charge the Alpha. Erica was nowhere to be seen, but Rayne could smell her.

"So, what'd I miss?" She asked, coming to sit next to Boyd.

"So far?" He asked, still watching Derek toss Isaac aside. "Nothing. Just Isaac getting his ass kicked."

"Well, that's a normal occurrence, I'd say." Rayne watched Isaac get thrown to the ground again and commented lightly. "I wonder if he realizes he's just doing the same thing over and over again…"

Boyd turned to smile at her and Rayne felt her heart warm. She knew from their talks that he was desperate for friends. And while he had opted for the bite, part of Rayne was concerned that he only did it to be part of the pack, not necessarily to be a werewolf. Erica had her epilepsy fixed. Isaac escaped his father. But becoming a werewolf didn't immediately give you friends. So, Rayne was glad he was comfortable around the pack at this point. That meant he probably didn't regret his actions.

"Derek is especially grumpy," Boyd commented.

"And that means what to me?" She asked. Even though, let's be honest— she cared. She cared too much.

"Well, you can pretend like you don't care, but we both know you do." Boyd quipped. "Also, when mommy and daddy are fighting it's usually the kids who suffer."

For a moment she just gaped at him, but slowly a smile slid across her face. Yeah, she was slowly becoming very, very fond of Isaac, Erica and Boyd.

All three of the Betas were so different and yet they worked so well together. Isaac was the youngest of the bunch and more often than not, acted his age— making clever quips and always being the first to volunteer for a fight.

Erica was a volcano in heels— usually shy and following the boys around like a shadow, but when she wanted it to happen, she'd just explode with energy of both the vicious and the sexual kind.

Boyd was the rock. If Rayne was standing off to the side— he was standing behind her. But sometimes he'd open his mouth and say something so cutting and so hilarious that the pack laughed until their stomachs hurt. Well, Rayne and the Betas laughed— but sometimes Derek cracked a smile.

* * *

Several hours later, Rayne is standing by the open door of the train car, leaning back she smacks her head off the metal a few times. They'd been at it since she returned, teaching them how to take down a hunter, anticipate their movements, learn from their enemy. But it just wasn't working.

Rayne watched Isaac charge Derek time and time again, doing the same thing, with the same result… Derek smashed him to the ground. Boyd was still sitting on the staircase across the room laughing. Erica was somewhere overhead, she was trying to be sneaky but Rayne could smell her. Suddenly Erica jumped down from above Rayne, and she easily threw her to the floor.

Rayne shakes her head, she can feel a migraine manifesting. She lets out a laugh, not because it's a funny situation, but she's so disappointed in them that all she can do is laugh. Derek sighs, shaking his head, "Does anyone want to try not being completely predictable?"

Erica pushes herself up and as Derek turns around she jumps on him, wrapping her arms and legs around him, then planting her red lips on him. Rayne raises an eyebrow while smirking, 'Balls of steel.' She watches as Derek kisses her back for only a moment before he throws her to the ground, wiping his lips in disgust.

"That's the last time you do that."

"Why, cause I'm a Beta?"

"No. It's because I have someone else in mind for you."

"Are we done? Cause I got about 100 bones that need a few hours to heal." Isaac says looking up at Derek.

Rayne shakes her head at her young Beta, she could write a book entitled 'Stupid things to say to your Alpha' from Isaac alone. She watches Derek give him what appears to be a sympathetic look, walk over to the boy, kneel down, take his wrist and snap it.

"101. You think we're teaching you how to fight, huh? Look at me! We're teaching you how to survive!"

The other two Beta's look at Derek, fear evident in their eyes. Isaac looks around at everyone, "If they wanted us dead, why aren't they coming for us now. What are they waiting for?"

"We don't know. But they're planning something, and you, especially, know that's not our only problem. Whatever that thing is that killed Isaac's father, I think it killed someone else last night. And until I find out what it is, you all need to learn everything that we know. As fast as we can teach you."

Derek steps past Rayne into the car, he sits down head in his hands. Rayne goes inside, kneeling in front of him she sets her hands on his knees.

"It'll be okay. I'll work with them 24/7, till they can protect themselves in their sleep. I'll make sure they can take care of themselves."

Derek looks up his eyes meeting hers, "And who's gonna take care of you?"

"My Alpha… Duh."

Derek laughs out loud, kissing her on top of her head. She smiles standing up and heading towards the door, Derek's voice stops her.

"Hey Rayne. After everything that…. You didn't get jealous when Erica kissed me."

"Why would I? I have no claim to you."

* * *

Later that night, Rayne is at the Lacrosse game, she spies Boyd and Erica sitting in the stands above her. She gives them a nod and smile as they wave at her. Rayne tunes in so she can hear everything going on around her. First the Coach is yelling about the giant kid on the field, snapping our guys like twigs.

"Come on! Is that thing even a teenager? I wanna see a birth certificate!" He sits down on the bench next to Stiles, "Who or what is that genetic experiment gone wrong?"

"Eddie Obomowitz, Coach. They call him, "The Abomination."

"Oh, that's cute."

Rayne then hears Jackson yelling at her brother. "McCall. What the hell are you waiting for? This is the semi-finals. Bring that roid-head into the ground."

"Me? You're the one who said that I was a cheater."

"And that freak of nature being on the field is fair? Do something."

"I can't. Not while Allison's grandfather is here."

Rayne watches Allison snag Gerard's keys from his pocket, discreetly handing them to Stiles, who not so discreetly leaves the field. Rayne turns to her mom who is sitting next to her, she's talking to a kid in uniform but Rayne doesn't know his name. They carry a player by on a stretcher complaining he can't feel his legs.

The kid asks her mom, "He belong to you?"

"No, mine is still on the field. While I'm here, really wishing that he would have stuck with tennis. Are you the yearbook photographer?"

"No, I uh, I just take pictures."

"Just lacrosse or other things?"

"Anything that catches my eye."

Rayne can't help but wonder just what catches his eye, he gave off a very creepy vibe. Rayne watches Danny head back out on the field after taking a nasty hit, she knows he can't even see straight. Coach then starts calling for Stiles but he's nowhere to be found. She watches Coach look through the crowd, his eyes landing on someone behind her.

"You! You! You play lacrosse?"

"Uh-uh, Derek won't like this," Erica said.

"Yeah, but I will."

Rayne's body tightened as she turned around to find Boyd descending the bleachers anyway. She caught his eye and frowned, but the boy didn't take the warning.

This would not be good.

Slowly, she watched the situation go from bad to worse. Boyd jumped right into the game and damn near went crazy. The entire time, Rayne was on the edge of her seat— prepared to jump up and tackle the kid if necessary. He knocked the opposing team's star player on his ass and even from this distance, Rayne could see his eyes glowing. Scott approached the other Beta and Rayne heard him warn Boyd, "You need to get off the field. Your eyes… Someone's gonna see you."

The next play, Scott gets hit after scoring a goal, Rayne can hear his leg snap from the bleachers. She panics momentarily, wondering how she could explain how his leg wasn't broken. Or how she was going to protect him from Gerard, who happened to be at the game with Allison watching. She knew Scott would be fine for a minute so she focused on finding Boyd.

Coming up behind Boyd, she dug her claws into his back and heard the slick of nails breaking skin. He groaned and stretched to avoid the sharp nails an inch deep in his skin.

"What do you think you are doing?" She hissed in his ear.

"I just wanted to play," he yelped.

Her claws retracted and she frowned. "I know you want to play— try out for the team next year. Right now, you nearly put us all at risk. Gerard is in the audience— did you not see that?"

The crowd broke up as everyone realized that Scott was all right. Rayne gave the boy one last frown and jogged back to her mother. Boyd pulled himself out of the game. Erica was nowhere to be seen.

There were eyes on her. It was like a shiver snaking down her spine. Briefly, Rayne glanced over to find Gerard staring down at her from his perch a few steps up. His face was neutral but Rayne was still frightened. She tried to not let it show on her face and instead summoned the courage of her she-wolf. Slowly, she let her fangs grow and then she grinned at the man to show that she wasn't afraid. All he did was smile right back. Gerard broke eye contact first, choosing to say something to his granddaughter in favor of matching stares with the she-wolf.

* * *

Rayne then goes in search of Stiles, she saw Erica dragging him into the school, that can only mean that Derek is here too. Only question is where.

She receives a text from Allison; _**'Gerard invited Scott to dinner, what do I do?'**_

'_**Stay calm. Find the book. Call me if you need me.'**_

Rayne hears voices coming from the pool, she comes through the door just in time to see Stiles drop Derek underwater, she sees the creature right down from her, and Stiles trying to get to his phone. She starts running towards the pool pulling off her jacket, she yells, "Stiles! Get the phone!"

She dives down into the water, grabbing Derek and using all her strength she kicks them back up to the surface. Both of them gasp for air as Derek eyes Stiles, "Tell me you got him!"

Stiles frowns as he takes Derek's other arm, helping Rayne support him.

"Rayne? What are you doing here?"

"I really don't think this is the best time to be discussing this Stiles. I'll happily explain later."

Rayne's eyes sweep the room, she doesn't see the creature, Derek watches her closely. "Don't even think about it Rayne."

"Look I can distract it, maybe I can find help before it gets me."

"Do you hear how you're talking?" Derek asked. "Before it gets me"? It's a suicide mission and I'm not letting you do it."

"I have to do something. We can't hold you up forever, we're gonna drown."

"I'm not letting you go out there!"

"I'm not letting us drown! How long do you intend to stay here Derek? Until your paralysis wears off? How long will that be? Until Erica wakes up— totally unprepared for that creature— and gets ripped apart?"

"The only person who can reasonably fight that thing is me!"

"And you can't do that right now! Besides— you're the better Alpha. They need you. They don't need me. I'm expendable! Let me do this!"

"You are not expendable!" He shouted. "And they do need you!" Panting, he looked her right in the eyes. In a quiet voice he added, "I need you."

Oh God. That just absolutely broke her heart. It only managed to solidify her desire to drive that creature away so that they could get to safety. Vaguely, she recalled a memory. It was during the full moon and he had joked with her about her growing a tail. Derek had laughed his ass off. That was the image she held in her head— his head thrown back, all his straight white teeth showing, as his eyes crinkled and his body shook. That was the face she wanted to see before she got out of this pool— not the one that looked so desperate for her to stay— eyes desperately begging for her not to go.

"I…" She couldn't get the words out. She had so much to say— She wanted to tell him that she loved him. But her breath caught in her lungs and she choked on everything bottled up inside herself. Taking a deep breath, she turned and searched for the monster. It was on the left side of the pool. She kept her gaze on it because she knew if she looked at Derek's face, she'd lose her nerve. "I'm sorry," she simply said.

Rayne let go of Derek, swimming over to the side of the pool, she looks back, "Stiles, find something to hold on to. When you see an opening, get the hell out of here!"

"Rayne! No!" Derek called after her as she swam for the side of the pool. "Rayne! Come back here! Don't do this! Do not do this! Rayne!" But Derek's voice is drowned out as he slips underwater. Rayne pulls herself out of the water, crouching down she extends her claws.

"Come on you slimy bastard. Where are you!"

If it wanted a fight, it would get a fight and this she-wolf would go down swinging. She had people to protect.

A roar ripped from her throat.

It comes at her from behind but she's quick enough to dodge it, bringing her claws down she slashes through the flesh of its back. She is momentarily distracted as she sees Stiles and Derek underwater, the creature slashes at her chest, she leaps back just in time, far enough that it barely catches her, but still close enough to leave 5 shallow claw marks. She falls to the ground clutching her wounds, pain she didn't know existed flashed in her eyes. But slowly, it was replaced by something else… the toxin, she realized. It had infected her with its toxin and she was becoming as helpless as Derek. Sliding to the floor, she saw the shadow of the monster come to stand over her.

This was the end.

A growl from behind the monster echoed around the pool. She knew that voice. Her brother. Scott had come through, oh my God; Scott had come to save them, relief flooded her as she saw Scott pull the two guys out of the water.

Scott roars as the creature approaches him, they share roars as the creature's tail wraps around Scott's ankle, throwing him up against a mirror on the wall, shattering it. The creature approaches slowly, Scott grabs a long shard of glass, holding it up in front of him. The creature stops, looking at its reflection in the glass shard, it growls then leaps to the wall next to Scott, up to a balcony, up the wall, across the ceiling and busting out through the glass skylight.

Just as Derek can move, he runs to the other side of the pool, falling on his knees next to Rayne. He gingerly lifts her up onto his lap, he lifts up her shirt, wincing at the claw marks, angry and red. He gives her a glare, which softens as he meets her eyes.

"When you get better, I'm kicking your ass!"

"Whatever you say D."

Derek sighs, he never could win with her, she's a protector, it's what they do. He picks her up bridal style, carrying her outside. Scott and Stiles are on a laptop trying to decode the bestiary.

"Is that even a language?" Stiles asks looking at the screen.

"How are we supposed to figure out what this thing is?"

"It's called a Kanima," Derek answers walking up, Erica next to him supporting Rayne.

"You knew the whole time," Stiles says exasperated.

"No. Only when it was confused by its own reflection."

Scott figures it out, "It doesn't know what it is."

"Or who."

"What else do you know?" Stiles inquires.

"Just stories. Rumors."

"But it's like us?" Scott asks.

"It's a shape-shifter, yes. But it's… it's not right. It's like a…"

"An abomination."

Derek nods at Stiles, letting him know he's right. He turns walking a few steps away.

Scott calls, "Derek. We need to work together on this. Maybe even tell the Argents."

"You trust them?"

"Nobody trusts anyone. That's the problem. While we're here arguing about who's on what side, there's something scarier, stronger and faster than any of us, and it's killing people! And we still don't even know anything about it!"

"I know one thing. When I find it, I'm gonna kill it."

* * *

Scott is on the phone with Rayne as he pulls up outside of the hospital to pick up Melissa. Rayne is finally getting some feeling back into her body, but she's still bleeding heavily. As Scott gets out of the car, he has the phone in his hand, on speaker, Rayne hears the sound of ripping flesh. "Scott!"

"Don't move." Gerard tells him. "Even though I can practically feel the tissue around the blade already trying to heal, you never know with a Beta. Besides, we'd lose this perfect picture. The kind old grandfather embracing his favorite grandson after hearing good news from the doctor. That's right. I can play the nice, doddering grandpa who likes to cook and tell stories and be sweet and charming. And trust me, I can do it far better than you playing average broken-hearted teenage boy! Are you listening?"

"Yes."

"Perfect. Now, you're gonna do me a favor one of these days. And you're gonna do it because if you don't, this knife goes in her."

The two of them turn to see Melissa standing just inside the hospital doors.

"Scott. I truly believe that it's so much easier when bad things don't have to happen to good people. Don't you agree?"

"Yes."

Rayne hears her mom approach the car, asking Scott, "Hey there. You okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Everything's fine."

* * *

Derek takes Rayne back to the lair to treat her wounds, he's driving her crazy, "Derek, really I'm fine."

"Oh, really? Should I get you a mirror Rayne?"

Derek sighs, growling, this woman was so infuriating. He hears her shift on the mattress as he rips off his jacket and goes to find the First Aid Kit. He brings it back, setting it on the bed in between them. Rayne ripped the remains of her tattered shirt off in the car, so she is left in just a black lace bra. The cuts start at her left collarbone, and run diagonally down to the top of her right breast. He takes a deep breath and pulls out the peroxide and some gauze pads, wetting one down he meets Rayne's eyes.

"This is gonna sting."

"This is not the first time you've had to patch me up Derek. I'm tough, I'll be fine."

She sits calmly as he cleans up the cuts, being very meticulous. When he's done he lays a fresh bandage over the top and tapes it down. She removes her her pants and Derek helps her under the blanket she had brought down, tucking it around her. Just as he finishes he hears the pack outside, "I'll be right back."

Rayne nods as exhaustion overcomes her body. She lays back closing her eyes, then hears someone enter the room. She opens her eyes to find Erica sitting on one of the seats, looking at her with concern.

"Hi. I came to see if you needed anything?"

"No. I'm fine. Thanks for helping me tonight."

"You're welcome. Thank you for saving me from that creature."

Rayne nods. The two girls sit in silence for a moment till— "You're a horrible she-wolf."

Erica looks up to see Rayne smiling, she gives a faint smile back, "I know. I thought being a Wolf would make me… I don't know. Obviously I wanted the wrong things, I mean look at me, I'll bet as a Beta you were tougher and stronger than I am."

"I had no choice Erica, I had to be that way, it was in my blood, my family. I will teach you, everything I know. When I'm done with you, hell you'll be able to take Derek."

The two girls share a laugh, Rayne takes Erica's hand, "We're sisters now." They hear a throat clear as Derek walks back into the room. Erica squeezes Rayne's hand before leaving. Derek takes her place on the bedside, smirking, "Making friends are we?"

"Shut up."

"So, you do have a heart?"

"Yeah, almost as big as the one you try to hide."

"Scott's right you know. You may not trust them, but we can't do this alone."

Derek shakes his head as he lays down next to her, her head laying on his chest, the sound of his heartbeat lulling her to sleep as his fingers lightly run through her hair. The two fall asleep, wrapped in each others arms. But their peace is about to be shattered.


	5. Venomous

******Disclaimer - I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

**Meggyboo92 - **You make great points. I like the different emotions that Derek and Rayne go through. In my opinion no relationship is perfect. There are times when you want nothing but to be wrapped up in that person and others when you want to rip them apart. You have moments of tender, sweet love and others of fire and extreme passion.

Also you brought up a great point about Rayne's name, so if anyone else is wondering her name is pronounced "rain."

Xoxo Tiearney

* * *

Rayne was visiting her brother, they were discussing Gerard when she got a call from Derek asking her to come by later so they could talk. Since Derek hadn't spoken to her since the other night the call peeked her curiosity. Figuring Derek was up to something he didn't want her to be privy too, she headed to the station. Rayne knew she was right about Derek being up to something as she arrived just as Erica did, the blonde holding a terrified Jackson in her grip. She followed behind Erica and a very confused Jackson. As she descended the stairs she caught Derek's eyes, he didn't say anything but given the scowl he gave her, she knew he would after Jackson was gone.

Erica and Isaac hold Jackson, Derek sits in front of him on a box, Rayne walks over standing behind Derek. "What happened to you on the night of the full moon?"

"What? Nothing. Nothing happened."

Derek looks up giving him a pointed look, "You're lying." Derek sets down the shard of glass in his hand, Jackson panics at the sight of Derek pulling on a pair of black leather gloves, thinking the Alpha is going to beat him. "No, wait, I can… I can prove it. I taped myself."

Rayne laughs, Erica smirks and Derek shakes his head. Isaac can't resist laughing, "You taped yourself?"

"Yes. It was the full moon. And maybe while you were curled in the corner having an existential crisis about turning into a monster, I was preparing for the so-called gift your big, bad Alpha promised me, and what did I get? Nothing. You want proof? Let me get the video."

Derek shakes his head, "No. No, I have a better idea."

He picks up the glass shard, Jackson struggling against Erica and Isaac who put him on his knees, "What is that?"

Derek stands up walking towards him, "You know, Jackson, you've always been kind of a snake… (chuckles) And everyone knows a snake can't be poisoned by its own venom."

Erica and Isaac force Jackson's mouth open and Derek uses the glass shard to drop some venom into Jackson's mouth. It seems to be working at first, but seconds later Jackson convulses the paralytic taking effect, the two Beta's let him fall to the floor. Derek sighs looking around, he kneels down by Jackson. "You're still a snake, Jackson, just not the one we're looking for."

Derek walks inside the train car, Rayne follows him. Isaac kneels down next to Jackson, "You're still gonna have to do one more thing for us. Well, actually, for me."

* * *

Inside the car, Derek stands with his back to Rayne, "I told you to come over later, what are you doing here?"

"I figured it was odd for you to call just to tell me not to come over until later. So I figured you were up to something you didn't want me to be apart of. So I thought I'd come down and see for myself what you were doing. How long you gonna give me the silent treatment?"

He doesn't turn around or look at her, she sighs exasperatedly, "Fine Derek, you want to act like a child, so be it. When you decide you want to act like an adult, call me. Until then if you need me, I'll be helping out Scott trying to stop this thing. You know, together, like we all should be."

Rayne walks out, bidding goodbye to the others, she's halfway up the stairway when she hears a loud crash from inside the train car and a loud roar. The two young Betas look up at her and she simply keeps walking.

* * *

Scott is sitting in class when he receives a text, he pulls his phone out hiding it underneath his desk.

'_Derek has ordered Erica and Isaac to test Lydia with the venom. I'm not sure when. Rayne'_

'_What do we do? Scott'_

'_I have a plan, but we're gonna need help. Rayne'_

* * *

'_Meet me on the field – Rayne'_

Scott heads out onto the field, meeting up with Rayne, whose standing in front of Boyd.

"I want to talk to Derek," Scott says coming to stand next to Rayne.

"Talk to me."

Rayne moves to the side knowing Scott can handle this, but she stays close enough just incase.

"I don't want to fight."

"Good, cause I'm twice the size of you."

Scott looks the teen up and down. "True. Really, really true. But you want to know what I think? I'm twice as fast."

Scott takes Boyd down easily laying him on his back. When they get up Derek is standing in between them, across from him is Rayne.

"She failed the test."

"Yeah, which doesn't prove anything. Lydia's different."

"I know, at night she turns into a homicidal walking snake."

"We're not going to let you kill her."

Derek looks at Boyd then back at Scott, grinning, "Who said I was gonna do it."

Scott and Rayne put it together, Erica and Isaac are going to kill Lydia. Scott makes a move for the school, Boyd clotheslines him to the ground, and in a split second Rayne has her claws dug into Boyd's chest.

"I don't know why you think you have to protect everyone now, Scott. But even so, Lydia has killed people and she's gonna do it again, and next time, it's gonna be one of us."

"What if you're wrong?" Rayne asks him.

"She was bitten by an Alpha. It's her."

"You saw that thing up close. You know it's not like us."

"But it is! We're all shapeshifters. You don't know what you're dealing with. It happens rarely and it happens for a reason."

"What reason?"

"Sometimes the shape you take reflects the person that you are." Derek holds his hand out to Scott, helping him up, Rayne removes her claws from Boyd, the glare from the Alpha making him cower. "Even Stiles calls her cold-blooded."

"Well, what if she's immune?"

That comment gets Derek's attention as Scott continues, "What if she's got something inside of her that makes her immune to the bite, which is why she didn't get paralyzed?"

"No one's immune! I've never seen it or heard of it. It's… It's never happened."

"What about Jackson? That's why you tested him, isn't it? Because you gave him what he wanted, didn't you? Peter said the bite either kills you or turns you. You were probably hoping that he would die. But nothing happened, right? And you have no idea why, do you?"

Scott's argument is even making Boyd think, Rayne can see it in his face.

"No."

"Well, we have a theory. Lydia's immune, and somehow she passed it on to Jackson. You know we're right."

"No!"

"You cannot do this!"

"Look, I can't let her live! You both should have known that!"

"We were hoping we could convince you, but then… we weren't counting on it."

* * *

Inside the school, Erica and Isaac go into the library to find Lydia gone. Elsewhere in the school, Jackson, Allison, and Stiles escort Lydia to the parking lot climbing into Stiles' Jeep.

Ten minutes later they pull up in front of Scott's house, Lydia is beginning to wonder what's going on.

"If we're studying at Scott's house, then where's Scott?"

"Meeting us here, I think. I hope." Stiles tells her, she gives him a funny, off look. Allison looks back at Jackson, "Thanks for doing this." He looks around cautiously, "I needed to talk to her anyway."

They pile into the house Lydia looks curiously at Stiles as he locks the door. "There's been a few break-ins around the neighborhood." Then he grabs a chair and pushes it under the door handle, "And a murder. Yeah, it was bad."

Allison gives Jackson a nod towards the upstairs and the blonde sighs exasperatedly. "Lydia, follow me. I need to talk to you for a minute."

"Seriously? What is going on with everyone?" She asks as they head upstairs.

After they leave Allison and Stiles watch through the front door for Derek.

* * *

Shortly after Scott and Rayne arrive, the Alpha stands on the front porch eyeing her best friend. The four wolves stand in a line across the street, Derek's the first to notice her. "I thought we were on the same side Rayne?"

"We are. We both want the same things, we want to protect people. I won't let you do this."

"You gonna take us all on?"

"You know I can."

"You think you can put us down?"

"You really want to find out?"

Derek growls glancing at the ground then back up, "You're willing to die for them."

"I'm willing to die for my brother. If protecting his friends means dying then so be it. Are you prepared to kill me Derek? Because you know that's what you're going to have to do." Derek shifts his eyes away from her, giving her the answer. "But you won't. Will you? Big, Bad Alpha, but even you wouldn't kill me. No, you'll make one of them try. So the question really is, which of you Beta's wants to die first?"

Rayne goes back inside the house standing by Stiles, they hear Allison in Scott's room. "Guys, it's here."

"Great as if we didn't have enough to worry about." Rayne says with a sigh.

Rayne hears the scuffle with Erica and Allison, she comes up in time to see Erica fall to the floor, her body paralyzed. Rayne smiles at Allison, then picks Erica up and drags her downstairs.

* * *

Outside Derek and Boyd are hearing the furniture breaking and crashing in the house. Derek smirks thinking he's won, till the front door opens and—

Both Isaac and Erica are tossed out onto the ground of the front yard, Derek sighs, nodding his head. Scott steps out on the front porch, followed by Rayne, Allison, and Stiles.

"I think I'm finally getting why you keep refusing me, Scott. You're not an Omega. You're already an Alpha, of your own pack. (smiles) But you know you can't beat me."

"I can hold you off until the cops get here."

Derek realizes there are sirens in the distance. Suddenly scurrying footsteps are heard on the roof, the four of them run out onto the lawn in time to see the Kanima roar at them and disappear off the roof. Derek looks down at Isaac and Erica disappointedly, telling Boyd, "Get them out of here."

Lydia comes rushing out of the house, "Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"

Scott suddenly realizes, "It's Jackson."


	6. Frenemy

******Disclaimer - I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

**SilverShadowWolf46 - **I know everyone just wants them to get together already and I promise they will... eventually. I'm so pleased you enjoyed the last chapter. Now on to #6 :)

Xoxo Tiearney

* * *

Derek and Rayne take off running quickly through the warehouse district side by side chasing the Kanima, they flip themselves over the top of a fence. Shifting as they hit the ground, they look up red eyes glowing. They track it into the center of an abandoned warehouse area, both of them slowing to a walk as they search the area.

A hissing from behind turns them around, the Kanima stands a few yards from them. Two growls leave the Alphas' throats as they charge the Kanima. Derek dodges two swipes of the talons, then moves around the Kanima, back flipping he kicks the creature in the chest knocking it back against a concrete beam.

They both swing for the creature, it ducks and they punch right through the corners of the pillar. It grabs both of them throwing them back, they stand up Derek shoving Rayne behind him as he picks up a car door off the ground. The creature advances on them slashing at the door, sending sparks flying as they both back up. The creature shoves them back into a pillar, Derek nearly squishing Rayne between him and the concrete. Derek roars at the Kanima, and using his Alpha strength, shoves it away from him. The Kanima gets up and runs away climbing up the pillar the wolves had punched the holes into. They stand underneath it, snarling up. The Kanima swipes an electric box with his tail sending bright sparks falling down, blinding the two wolves. The Kanima then jumps down grabbing both of them and throwing them behind a pillar.

It turns to go after them when a red SUV pulls up behind it. A person gets out—

Chris Argent.

He unloads, rocking the Kanima with multiple shots from his handgun. The Kanima drops to the ground, unmoving. Chris walks past it, he's looking for Derek and Rayne.

He turns to see the Kanima has risen to his feet, he raises his gun, CLICK!... the magazine is empty. It tail whips him into a concrete beam behind him. Behind him Derek and Rayne watch, through the beams of the headlights they observe Gerard standing face to face with the Kanima. It doesn't attack him, not sure if it would have, they don't find out because Scott runs up tackling the Kanima. He holds gazes with Gerard for a moment before running off after the Kanima.

* * *

Rayne takes off after Scott leaving Derek behind, not wanting Gerard to see her, she doesn't have the time to deal with him right now. She catches up with Scott and Stiles outside of a warehouse.

"Guys. Where did it go?" They obviously didn't hear her walk up cause they both jump when she speaks. Rayne laughs, "God you two are jumpy."

"I lost it." Scott says dejectedly.

"What? You couldn't catch his scent?" Stiles asks.

"I don't think he has one."

"All right, any clue where he's going?"

"To kill someone."

"Ah! That explains the claws and the fangs and all that. Good. Makes perfect sense."

Rayne sighs, "Will you two shut up!"

"What? Rayne come on. I'm 147 pounds of pale skin and fragile bone, okay? Sarcasm is my only defense."

"Let's just find it guys." Rayne states looking between her two brothers.

"Not "it." Jackson." Scott reminds her.

"Yeah, I know. I know."

"All right, but does he know that?" Stiles questions. "Did anybody else see him back at your house?"

"I don't know. I mean, I don't think so, but he already passed Derek's test anyway."

"Yeah, but that's just the thing. How did he pass the test?"

"Stiles is right." Rayne answers. "A snake can't be poisoned by its own venom, so why did it paralyze Jackson?"

"Maybe it's like an either-or thing. If it can't be poisoned by its own venom. When's the Kanima not the Kanima?"

"When it's Jackson." Scott answers.

Rayne sighs, "Of course."

"Uh. Dude."

Rayne notices Stiles looking up and backing away from them, "Stiles, what's wrong?" She and Scott come to stand next to him, looking up they see the Kanima's tail entering a window.

Stiles is perplexed, "What's he gonna do in there?"

Scott looks to the front door, "I know who he's after."

"What, how? How? Did you smell something?"

"Armani." They watch Danny walk into the building called Jungle, it seems to be a club.

Stiles tries to open a back door but it's locked. "Aw, come on. All right, maybe there's, like, a window we could climb through…" Scott steps past Stiles easily pulling the handle off of the door. "…or some kind of handle that we could rip off with supernatural strength. How did I not think of that one?"

Rayne follows Scott and Stiles inside. The interior is dark, with lasers and strobe lights, disco balls and…

"Dude, everyone in here's a dude, I think we're in a gay club," Scott says looking around. Both he and Rayne look over to see Stiles surrounded by drag queens, touching and stroking him. "Man, nothing gets past those keen werewolf senses, huh, Scott?"

The watch Danny head out on the floor, Scott spots Jackson crawling along the ceiling. The three of them search the room for Danny. Scott spots Jackson on the floor, suddenly guys start falling randomly, Jackson is paralyzing them trying to reach Danny.

Derek shows up, fully shifted in front of Jackson, Scott notices and yells, "No, don't!"

Derek slashes Jackson's throat. People start screaming and moving towards the doors.

Scott and Rayne take off outside searching for Jackson, they follow his blood trail out a back door and into the parking lot. They find him between two cars, back to his human form and covered in blood. They approach slowly, he starts to cough, he's alive. Stiles comes running out to find them, Scott turns to him, "What do we do with him now?"

* * *

Back at the club the police have shown up. Stiles and Rayne watch Jackson in the Jeep, while Scott goes to talk to Danny. He finds him on a stretcher headed to the ambulance, "Danny."

"McCall, what are you doing here?"

"Just, uh, seeing if you're okay. And um, wondering if anything weird happened to you today. Besides being paralyzed from the neck down."

Danny gives him an 'are you serious' look.

Scott sighs, "Just one more question. Are you okay?"

"Did it happen to my ex too?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'm great."

Scott runs back over getting in the Jeep. Rayne gets out of the back, bidding the boys good night. She's going to go find Derek and talk some sense into him, and by that the boys figured she meant beat the hell out of him.

"I couldn't get anything out of Danny."

"Okay, can we just get the hell out of here now before one of my dad's deputies sees me?" Stiles starts the Jeep, but before they can move his dad pulls up in a cruiser in front of them.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Could this get any worse?"

Jackson moans like he's waking up, Stiles turns around freaking out, "That was rhetorical."

"Get rid of him."

"Get rid of him? Scott, we're at a crime scene and he's the Sheriff."

"Do something."

Stiles waves his arms in a fit then gets out running over to intercept his dad, who already looks irritated that they're here. "Hey."

Jackson starts to sit up, "What's… What's going on?"

"Jackson, Jackson, be quiet."

The Sheriff crosses his arms, "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean what am I doing here? What? It's a club. It's a club, we were clubbing, you know? At the club."

"Not exactly your type of club."

"Uh… Well, Dad, there's a conversation that…"

"You're not gay."

"I could be."

"Not dressed like that."

"Well, what's… Uh!" Stiles' Dad starts to walk towards the Jeep but he holds him back.

Inside Jackson is still moaning, Scott starts panicking. "Jackson, be quiet."

"This is the second crime scene that you just happened to have shown up on. And at this point, I've been fed so many lies, I'm not sure I know the kid standing in front of me. Now, what the hell is going on?"

Jackson has now sat up, "What's happening?"

"Jackson, I'm sorry. But…" Scott punches him in the face, knocking him back out. He then turns to see the Sheriff looking at them, they both smile and wave. "Stiles…"

"Dad, I…"

"The truth, Stiles."

"The truth, all right. Well, the truth is that we were here with Danny. Yeah, cause he just broke up with his boyfriend so, you know, we were just trying to take him out and get his mind off things. That's it."

"Well, that's really good of you guys. You're good friends."

Stiles nods, getting back into the Jeep, and driving off. Only Scott noticing Chris and Gerard parked in a corner watching the scene.

* * *

A short while later Rayne is sitting at home when the door opens, she knows who it is by the heartbeat, and the fact that he just waltzed right in.

"Don't you ever knock?" Rayne doesn't look up from her laptop as Derek sits on the coffee table in front of her as she sits on the couch.

"Nope. Not when I know I'm always welcome."

"Who said you were welcome?" She finally looks up giving him a glare. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry Rayne, you and Scott were right all along, I should've listened to you."

"You're right, you should've. You know the old young Derek, was just like my brother. Fell in love too fast, loved with all his heart, tried to protect everyone. Do you remember him? I do."

Rayne stands up, leaning over she presses a kiss to Derek's cheek.

"Don't let the past change you Derek."


	7. Restraint

******Disclaimer - I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

**Marine76 - **Thanks for your review :) and since you asked so nicely here is the next chapter :)

Also thank you to all of you who have chosen to favorite or followed this story and myself. It means so much.

Xoxo Tiearney

* * *

Rayne receives a phone call at home from Scott updating her on what's going on with Jackson. She goes to the train station to find Derek, she can hear his voice as she reaches the door.

"So why do we need their help?" She hears Isaac ask, not understanding why Betas ask such dumb questions.

"Because it's harder to kill than I thought and I still don't know who it is."

"And they do?"

"They might. Which is why I need one of you to get on their good side."

"Hmm, Scott or Stiles?" Erica grins thinking of the possibilities.

"Either."

Derek notices Rayne coming down the stairs. She sits down on a box resting, her chest has been burning the last few days. They continue talking, Rayne just watching what's unfolding.

Isaac questions, "You know, the full moon's coming, Derek."

Derek turns, giving him a dumb look, "I'm aware of that." He opens a large trunk, pulling out several lengths of chains and collars.

Erica reaches in and pulls her own hunk of chains out, "My, these look comfortable."

Derek takes them from her as Isaac looks on, "You said you were gonna teach us to change whenever we wanted."

Rayne's gives him a scowl, clearly she believes that is a bad idea, he looks away. "There hasn't been time."

"But if you have to lock us up during the full moon, that means you're alone against the Argents."

"They haven't found us."

"Yet!" Isaac says loudly. "So how about we forget the Kanima?"

"We can't! There was something about the way Gerard looked at it. He wasn't afraid… At all. Now, I don't know what he knows or what he's planning. But I'm sure about one thing. We have to find it first."

He walks into the train car where Rayne already sits waiting for him sitting gingerly on a seat. Derek frowns at her, "You look beat."

"I'm fine."

"You shouldn't be here, you need to rest."

"I'll rest when I'm dead, which with the way things are going, might not be too far away." She grins, till she sees the look on Derek's face, then she fades to a frown. "Derek you can't keep doing this. One minute you're caring about me, the next you want to rip my head off. I swear you're the only bi—polar werewolf I know."

"Whatever." He stops, turning to face her, just staring at her. He comes closer, leaning his head down he sniffs her hair and neck. He pulls back, his eyes flashing red, "Why do you smell like Stiles?" He moves to the other side of her neck becoming increasingly agitated. "And Jackson?"

"You didn't hear? We had a crazy threesome last night just before you tried to take Jackson's head off. Those young guys are insatiable."

She bites her lip in an attempt to stanch her smile, holding back a laugh as she hears a low guttural growl come from him. "Relax Sourwolf. I was with them and Scott. God you are so moody."

"Then stop contesting me!"

"That's what your problem is? Because I don't do everything you say. Derek you know I protect my family, whether I completely like all Scott's friends or not, they're his friends and he's my brother. You know how much family means, and protecting innocent people, you're not too far gone to remember what your father taught us. I care about you, but I will not allow that to cloud my mind. I will do what is right, not what keeps me on your good side, which I'm not even sure you have anymore. Do you like me because you think I'm docile and compliant? Cause you should know by now, I'm not."

"Go take a shower."

"Bite me."

Rayne smirks as she walks out the door of the car, leaving a pissed off Derek behind again.

* * *

Derek is setting things up for the full moon with Rayne helping, when they hear Scott yelling from the staircase, in his arms he holds a seizing Erica. Derek takes her, bringing her into the train car, he lays her on the floor.

"Pull her up," Derek commanded.

Stiles situated himself behind Erica's head, cradling her and allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder. The girl was whimpering and Rayne felt her heart tug a bit. The jerking just looked painful. "Is she dying?" Stiles asked, frantic.

"She might… I…" Derek looked the girl up and down at a loss. And then, his jaw tightened as he made up his mind. "Which is why this is going to hurt," he said. His hands slid along her wrist, up her arm and then he snapped the bones.

A scream echoed out of Erica's mouth.

"You broke her arm!" Stiles yelled at Derek.

"It'll trigger the healing process," he tried to explain. Rayne knew the look on his face – he was lost and hurting, a member of his pack was hurting so naturally he was hurting as well. And it was something that went beyond Alpha instinct. She knew as an Alpha, he was able to feel that Erica was in pain, just instinctively. But at some level, Derek felt responsible for these kids as well – and knowing that he had put them in a position to be hurt wasn't helping the situation.

"I still gotta get the venom out… This is where it's really gonna hurt." His claws dug into her arm and the blood started pooling onto the train car floor.

Erica's screams reached a crescendo and then she was just gasping for breath. Rayne didn't know if she had just lost the power to scream or the pain was slowly dripping away.

With gentleness Rayne didn't know Stiles had, he pushed some of Erica's hair from her face. Groggily, she turned to look at the boy and then she smiled a bit. "Stiles… You make a good Batman," she told him. One of her hands reached up to touch his arm. Rayne didn't know what the girl was talking about, but she wished she did, it was a touching moment.

And then Erica fainted and Stiles gasped as she fell limp into his arms. "Oh, my God."

Derek continued to drain her blood for a few more moments. He glanced up and looked at each person in the train car. Stiles was too busy staring at Erica like he had only just started seeing her. Scott was frowning at the blood on the floor. Rayne was the only one to meet his gaze. Her eyes soft with understanding.

When the Alpha gently put Erica's arm down and stood, Scott finally snapped out of his thoughts. "Can we talk?" He asked Derek, who nodded.

Rayne stepped outside the car, sitting on a box, Derek and Scott following her. Scott gives her a questioning look behind Derek's back, she gives him a curt nod back.

"You know who it is."

Derek sits down next to Rayne, sighing, "Jackson."

"You just wanted Erica to confirm it, didn't you?" Derek nods looking off a bit, Scott pauses for a minute, "I'm gonna help you stop him. As part of your pack."

Derek's head swiveled back as he gave Scott an unbelieving look, Rayne simply smiled. "If you want me in, fine. But we'll do it on one condition. We're gonna catch him, not kill him."

"And?" Derek asks raising his eyebrows.

"And we do it my way." Scott states.

Rayne gives Scott a wink, so far their plan was working.

* * *

After the boys had left, Rayne checked in on the she-wolf, then walked back out to where Derek still sat.

"Still out?" He asked.

"Out cold," she clarified. "But the shaking subsided." She glanced up at Derek. "I thought her seizures would stop."

He frowned, but didn't say anything. Rayne didn't push, they were both at a loss.

"I want to do this right Rayne. I made Jackson into what he is. It's my responsibility to fix this. If we can find who's controlling the Kanima and stop them, maybe we can save Jackson."

"You feel guilty," Rayne realized.

"I bit him," Derek said softly.

Her hand tightened around his and she decided to change the subject. "So, Scott's part of our pack now…"

Derek's thumb slid across her knuckles. "Yes, he is," he whispered. "One of the first times I interacted with Scott, he accused me of giving him the bite, remember. He was so upset about it and I told him the bite was a gift. I told him that like it or not, we were brothers now. Sometimes it's felt like we were brothers, and sometimes like we were enemies."

"What does it feel like now?"

"Like the pack is becoming stronger…"

Rayne slid a bit closer and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Maybe next year we can celebrate the Wolf Moon," she suggested quietly.

His heart was so steady and his breathing so peaceful. "Yeah," he sighed. "I'd like that."

* * *

Rayne went inside the car the next morning to check on Erica, she found her sitting up gingerly. "You definitely have got some color back," Rayne commented with a sincere smile.

"Well, considering that last night our lovely Alpha snapped my ulna like a twig and then drained my blood all over the floor, yeah, I hope my super cool werewolf powers enable me to be functional the next day." Erica ran a hand through her limp blonde hair and leaned farther back against the wall.

"I'm glad you still have your bitch intact," Rayne jested a bit. "That was initially my main concern when I was listening to you scream."

Erica blushed feeling slightly ashamed. "I guess I was a pretty nasty sight last night, huh?"

The redhead shrugged casually. "If you're asking whether you creeped Stiles out, I think he was more focused on making sure you were all right. And you're right – he does make a good Batman."

What little color Erica had gained back during the night quickly vacated her face. "I said that aloud?"

"He took it as a compliment," she assured her friend. "Don't worry. I think it's cute."

"It's not going to happen," Erica announced suddenly.

"What isn't?"

"Stiles and me," she clarified, giving a little sigh. "That was a different girl in a different body at a different time. But sometimes when I see him… my body just reacts the same way it used to. That's all."

Rayne nods understandingly, "I got to go run some errands, I'll see you later tonight."

* * *

The Alpha walks out to her truck, as she opened the door her sleeve rustled a bit, a burst of Derek-scent slithered under her nose. With a small smile she paused her search and grabbed the collar of her shirt— bringing it up to give it a sniff.

"Did you just sniff yourself?"

Jumping a foot in the air, Rayne finally recognized the voice to be Derek's. Twisting her head a bit she saw that he had popped up just in time to see that embarrassing display.

"Goddess! Derek don't do that." The collar dropped from her hand and she blushed. "It smells like you," she admitted softly.

Derek allowed the smile he reserved only for her to grace his lips. "Scent marking, remember?"

"Should I consider myself sufficiently scent marked?"

"Without question."


	8. Raving

******Disclaimer - I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

So it was brought to my attention in the last chapter that even though Rayne called Derek bi-polar, she seemed a bit bi-polar too. I guess I just don't see her that way. She loves Derek, nothing changes that no matter how much they fight, she just loves to get under Derek's skin.

Also thank you to all of you who have chosen to favorite or followed this story and myself. It means so much.

Xoxo Tiearney

* * *

The next night, Stiles brings his Dad dinner, he figures he'll see what he's found out. He walks into the station, back into his office, his Dad standing automatically when they walk in.

"Hi, Dad."

Stiles sets his food down and he opens the Styrofoam container taking a bite of his hamburger. "Oh, what the hell is this?"

"Veggie burger."

"Stiles, I asked for a hamburger."

"Well, veggie is healthier. We're being healthy." He holds up a salad setting it in front of himself. His Dad sighs in exasperation, opening the other tray he discovers celery and carrots instead of French fries. "Oh, hell, why are you trying to ruin my life?"

"I'm trying to extend your life, okay? Could you just eat it, please? And tell me what you found."

"No, I'm not sharing confidential police work with a teenager."

"Is that it on the board behind you?"

"Don't look at that."

"All right."

"Avert your eyes."

"Okay."

Stiles keeps moving around his Dad to see, "Hey, avert!"

"I see arrows pointing at pictures."

"Okay, okay, stop. Fine. I found something. Mechanic and the couple who were murdered. They all had something in common."

"All three?"

"Yeah. You know what I always say. One's an incident. Two's coincidence."

"Three's a pattern," the Sheriff smiles at his son.

"The mechanic, the husband, the wife. All the same age. All 24."

"Wait a minute, what about Mr. Lahey? Isaac's dad isn't anywhere near 24."

"Which made me think that either A, Lahey's murder wasn't connected, or B, the ages were a coincidence, until I found this, which would be C."

He hands Stiles a file folder, "Did you know that Isaac Lahey had an older brother named Cameron?"

"Died in combat."

"But if he were alive today, take one guess as to how old he'd be."

"24."

The two of them stand in front of the board trying to connect the dots. Stiles come up with the first thought, "Now, what if same age means same class? Did you think of that?"

"Yeah. Well, I would've. I mean, I just got Lahey's file two hours ago."

"Two hours? Dad, people could be dying."

"Yeah, I'm aware of that. Thank you."

"Same class."

The two look at each other and then start pouring through files and yearbooks. Each of them went to Beacon Hills. They were all in Harris's class.

* * *

Rayne gets a call from Scott to meet him at the Vet's office, she's in the back with Deaton when she hears the door open, Derek and Isaac's voices drifting into the room.

"What's he doing here?" Scott asks glancing uneasily at Isaac.

"I need him."

Scott shakes his head, "I don't trust him."

Isaac answers, "Yeah, well, he doesn't trust you either."

Derek sighs irritated, "You know what? And Derek really doesn't care. Now where's the Vet? Is he going to help us or not?"

"That depends…" Derek turns to find Deaton leaning against the doorframe, with Rayne. "Your friend, Jackson. Are we planning to kill him or save him?"

Derek says, "Kill him." At the same time Scott says, "Save him." Scott glares at Derek, "Save him." Derek nods still not liking the idea, but Scott answers, "Save him."

They go back into the exam room, Deaton standing on one side of the table, Rayne to his right followed by Derek, Isaac and Scott. Deaton places a piece of wood containing 5 glass jars on the table, Isaac goes to reach for the jars when Derek grabs his arm, "Watch what you touch."

Isaac leans his elbows on the table, "So, what are you? Some kind of witch?"

"No, I'm a Veterinarian."

He looks at Derek, "Unfortunately, I don't see anything here that's gonna be an effective defense against a paralytic toxin."

"We're open to suggestions."

"What about an effective offense?" Isaac asks.

Derek answers, "We already tried. I nearly took its head off. And Argent emptied an entire clip into it. The thing just gets back up."

"Has it shown any weaknesses?"

"Well, one. It can't swim." Rayne offers garnering Deaton's attention.

"Does that go for Jackson as well?"

Scott pipes up, "No. He's the Captain of the swim team."

"Essentially, you're trying to catch two people." Deaton grabs a medallion with a figure inside, "A puppet. And a puppeteer." He sets the medallion on the table. "One killed the husband, but the other had to take care of the wife. Do we know why?"

Scott offers an answer, "I don't think Jackson could do it. His mother died pregnant, too, and she was maybe murdered. I think he couldn't let the same thing happen to someone else."

Isaac appears to be thinking of something, "How do you know it's not part of the rules? The Kanima kills murderers. If Jackson kills the wife, then the baby dies, too."

"Does that mean your father was a murderer?"

Isaac shrugs, "Wouldn't surprise me if he was."

Deaton's thinking, "Hold on. The book says they're bonded, right? What if the fear of water isn't coming from Jackson but from the person controlling him? What if something that affects the Kanima also effects its master."

"Meaning what?" Isaac questions.

Scott catches on, "Meaning we can catch them." Rayne catches on as well looking at her brother, "Both of them."

* * *

"And how do you feel about that?" Erica asked later that night when they all regrouped at the hideout.

"It's our best shot," Derek admitted. "This might be our only chance." A frown tugged at his face briefly before he sighed. "We're going to trap it in the rave. The controller will most likely be there too – the last time he sent Jackson to kill someone he didn't succeed. This time he'll want to make sure the deed is done. Scott will sedate the Kanima and then Stiles will trap it in using Mountain Ash. That way both the controller and the Kanima will be in the same area."

"Is that safe?" Boyd asked. "If Jackson is going there tomorrow night to kill someone, should we really be locking them in together?"

There was a moment when both the Alpha's faces tightened slightly. "We have no other choice," Derek finally admitted.

* * *

Later, the Betas dispersed and the two Alpha's walked side by side back to Rayne's house. Once in her house Derek headed straight for her room and quietly she followed him, her bottom lip being worried between her teeth. Immediately, he yanked off his shirt and tossed it into her "dirty clothes" hamper.

"Is this worth it?" Rayne asked as she sat on the mattress.

"Is what worth it?" Derek replied picking up his pair of black sweat pants that sat on her small couch.

"Is saving him worth risking our lives?"

Standing up slowly, he finally turned to face her and said, "I don't know. What do you think?"

"I think if one of the pack is killed because of this, I blame myself," Rayne muttered darkly, removing her shirt with an angry flourish, leaving her clad in just her bra and jeans.

"Don't do that. Do not blame yourself," he said quietly. "If something happens to one of us, it will be my fault for biting Jackson in the first place." One quick tug at his belt and the zipper of his jeans and his pants hit the floor. It was nothing new, seeing him like this, but Rayne still felt her cheeks heat up. The sweat pants replaced the jeans a bit too quickly.

She was so focused on his lower anatomy, she realized she had been neglecting the expression on his face— his green eyes were dark and his eyebrows curved upwards. It was an expression she had only seen on his face a handful of times.

"Derek, you put too much on yourself," she told him. Leaning forward, she grabbed his hand and gently guided him down onto her bed. He sat down with a plop and allowed Rayne to sit down on his lap, her legs on either side of him and her arms around his neck. Life was too stressful right now to be intimate, but that didn't mean she didn't absolutely enjoy sleeping beside her best friend. "There's only so much you can control," she told him, leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to his earlobe.

There was only about half a second before Derek grabbed her waist and threw her off his lap. It wasn't enough to physically hurt her, but it was rough nonetheless. Rayne bounced onto the mattress beside him, but she wasn't at all shocked.

Red eyes flashing, he twisted towards her to say, "I could control serving my family up on a silver platter to Kate. I could control coming back to Beacon Hills with my sister. I could control a lot of things. But I always make the wrong decision. So yes, Rayne, if things turn out badly— it's my fault. It's just one more bad decision to add to my list. All right?" He didn't wait for her response. Instead he just twisted back around turning his back to her and put his head into his hands.

No. Not all right.

Rayne quicker than a flash pounced on him, grabbed him by his shoulders, claws digging into tender flesh near his collarbone. Dragging his body backwards, she yanked him flat on his back before jumping to straddle him around his waist. His expression was a mixture of shock and anger, but he didn't push her off. Not even when she leaned forward and pressed her hands into his pectorals— her claws slipping past the top layer of flesh.

"You didn't know what Kate was going to do, you couldn't have, none of us did." Rayne growled in his face. "You couldn't have possibly known that Laura was going to die. Your decisions are what is best for everyone— but you are not a psychic Derek. You're making the best of the situation that you have been presented with. So yeah, if one of the pack gets hurt or dies, I won't blame myself. But I sure as hell won't blame you— you sacrifice way too much for the people around you and if it was in your power, you'd prevent it— You would die to prevent it, you idiot. That's who you are. So, shut up," she finally snapped.

The Alpha didn't say anything for a bit, but the anger in his bones had faded. She felt him relax between her tense legs. Finally, his expression softened and he reached a tentative hand up to cup her cheek. On instinct, she leaned into the touch and sighed into the rough skin of his palm. This man knew how to calm her down. This man knew her in and out and she knew him too. She smiled as she realized he believed her. Her words had reached him— reached past his guilt, his pain.

Then a smirk squirmed onto his face and his hands slid up her thighs and suddenly she remembered that she was shirtless. And when Derek grasped her hips and flipped her under his body, she wasn't even surprised.

What surprised her however was Derek leaning down and gently kissing her lips. Breathless, Rayne returned the small kiss, but it heated up very quickly. Surprisingly Derek simply pulled away after several minutes of making out and curled his body around hers.

As much as it frustrated her, she smiled. After everything they had been through together, he wouldn't take advantage of her. They had only been together intimately once, and Derek said if they ever were again, he wanted it to be special, to mean something.

* * *

"We're going to get in and attack at once," Derek announced. "The Kanima will have nowhere to go— but neither will we. And we have to prepare for that. It will be difficult. It will be bloody. And I'm sorry about that." Glancing between everyone, he finally asked, "Ready?"

"Ready," they all chorused together.

Erica, Isaac and Boyd all slipped out. They would all take separate cars so that they could have multiple escape routes. Rayne was just making sure that she had everything she needed in her purse before she left and then from behind hands slid up her hips, to her bare waist.

"What are you wearing?" Derek's voice inquired into her ear. His eyes glided from her skin tight black leather pants, to her red tank top that stopped just above her belly button and laced up between her breasts.

"Clothing," she answered with a smirk that he couldn't see.

"Not enough of it."

"Are you complaining?" She asked, leaning back a bit to rub her cheek against his scruff.

"Not at all." He growled deep in his throat and squeezed her tightly.

"We have a Kanima to catch," she reminded him, reluctantly.

Instantly, his hands left her body and he stepped away. "I know," he frowned. And suddenly all the insecurities he couldn't or wouldn't show in front of the pack appeared on his face. He was scared. Maybe more scared than Rayne.

Gently, she reached out and grabbed his hands. Bringing them up to her lips, she pressed a sweet kiss on one hand and then the other. "We know what we're doing," she said softly. "We've taught them well and they've all been improving leaps and bounds. They know how to fight now— we're ready for this."

His head nodded, but his eyes remained clouded. And Rayne knew then that there was nothing to say that would make him not worry. Only a death-free, positive outcome to catching the Kanima would put his mind at rest.

One more parting kiss later and she guided him out to his car, never letting go of his hand.

When she got into her own truck, she pressed her forehead against the steering wheel and tried to breathe. It was going to be a long night, she decided. A long, difficult night. And even though she had never really bothered going to church with her parents, hell she wasn't sure she even believed in God, or if werewolves had their own deities. Still she sent a quick prayer to whoever was listening. "Let us all survive this," she whispered.

* * *

She had only just pulled into the parking garage a few spaces down from Derek's car and hopped out of her truck when she saw that the gang was all there. Isaac was shifting on his feet, Erica was biting her lips and Boyd was picking his nails. Rayne knew their nervous ticks.

"Scott sent me a text," Rayne announced when she got there, stand beside Derek. "Apparently Allison is in the building and the Argents are also planning on capturing the Kanima tonight. We're going to have to change plans."

Briefly, Derek grit his teeth. "I'm going to handle the Argents with Boyd and Rayne. Isaac, you and Erica will go find Scott and sedate the Kanima. Once it's knocked out Stiles can break the Mountain Ash barrier and we'll regroup. Any questions?"

No one said anything. And Rayne knew it was less because they didn't have anything to ask but because they were scared. They were all so scared.

"Let's do this," Rayne said simply.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Erica and Isaac go inside to find Jackson, Stiles is left alone outside to make the barrier as Scott suddenly runs inside.

Meanwhile Rayne is with Derek and Boyd outside the warehouse.

Derek grabs her hand, "You don't have any wounds you haven't told me about do you?"

"Nope. Fit as a fiddle. Why do you look disappointed?"

"Because now there's nothing keeping you from coming with me."

"Derek I'll be fine, you need the backup."

Derek sighs, he leans down kissing her forehead, "Just be careful."

"You too."

They stand blocking the way to the entrance of the club, in front of them stands Chris with 4 hunters.

Chris steps up, "Derek, back off."

"Back off? That's really all you've got? I got to be honest, Chris. I was really expecting more from the big, bad, veteran werewolf hunter."

"Okay, then. How about, "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to bring claws to a gun fight?"

Guns click as the four men take aim at them, Boyd falters, "Yeah, that one sounded pretty good." Derek rolls his eyes at the young Beta. They unload on the trio, who take shelter behind a dumpster. As the four men take a minute to reload, the trio attacks. Boyd takes out one on the far right knocking him out, while Rayne takes out the one next to him by doing a handstand, wrapping her legs around his neck and flipping him to the ground knocking him out cold.

Derek rolls over the top of the dumpster, he takes out one hunter, flipping over backwards and kicking him in the face. Boyd takes one down again, grabbing his gun hand and twisting. Derek stand up only to be shot in the chest by two hunter with Tasers, he grunts as he grabs both of the electric lines, his teeth bared, he yanks them both together smacking them into one another.

Ducking behind a dumpster Boyd sits in between Rayne and Derek, he's straining to talk. "I think I stopped healing."

"Bullets, they're laced with Wolfsbane. You got to go. Take the car."

"What about you two?"

"We have to find Scott."

"Go. Go!"

Boyd gets up running for the car, Derek looks over at Rayne. "You okay?"

"I'm good. Let's go."

* * *

As soon as they find an opening they run for the door of the rave, they find Stiles out front.

"Hey, um… So we kinda lost Jackson inside, but it's…" Erica and Isaac walk out the doors, but stop, they can't cross the barrier. "Oh, my God! It's working. Oh, this is… I did something."

Both Derek and Rayne hear a howl, it's one laced in pain and despair. "Scott?!" Rayne screams doubling over, she's feeling her brothers pain, his heartbeat slowing down.

Stiles looks around, "What?"

"Break it." Derek says panicked as he sees Rayne double over.

"What? No way."

"Scott's dying!"

"Okay, what? How do you know that?"

"Oh, my God, Stiles, I just know! Break it!"

Stiles leans down breaking the barrier, Derek rushes into the building, Rayne following him claws extended incase they run into Jackson. Derek opens a door and rushes in, his vision instantly becomes blurry and it's hard for him to breath. Rayne comes in behind him, her vision immediately burring as well. Then she's hit in the head, and knocked down. A blinding pain rips through her back as a knife becomes a part of her body as though her skin was its sheath. It's removed as Rayne falls to the floor. She lies on the ground, her vision blurry, she barely sees Derek being stabbed in the back by—

Victoria Argent.

Derek whips around, grabbing her arm holding the knife. Rayne hears the knife clatter to the floor. She hears Derek struggling with the woman, he growls and then he lands next to her on the ground.

Derek tries to catch his breath, "Rayne are you okay?"

She shakes her head, wincing, "I'm fine. Get Scott."

Derek picks Scott up, dragging him out the door. They get into Rayne's truck and she drives them to the Vet's office. Derek brings Scott inside, laying him down on the exam table. Derek sits in the chair against the wall, Rayne standing next to him leaning back against the wall. Derek has a cut on his left forearm, he's holding a gauze pad over it. Deaton cleaned and bandaged Rayne's back up. The look on Rayne's face as she stares stoically at Scott hurts Derek, it's one of pure torment, she's upset, afraid for her brother.

"Thank you." Derek tells Deaton before he walks out. Rayne lays her hand over his, laying her head down on his shoulder.


	9. Party Guessed

******Disclaimer - I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Also thank you to all of you who have chosen to favorite or followed this story and myself. It means so much. But I could use some more reviews please and thank you ;)

Xoxo Tiearney

* * *

Back in the train station, Rayne is in the car resting when Derek and Scott walk in, she stays quiet listening to their conversation.

"I'm saying we need a new plan, because next time, one of us is gonna be too hurt to heal.

"I get it." Scott sighs heavily, "We can't save Jackson."

Derek sighs sitting down. "We can't seem to kill him either. I've seen a lot of things, Scott. I've never seen anything like this. Every new moon's just gonna make him stronger."

"Then how do we stop him?"

"I don't know. I don't even know if we can."

"Yeah, maybe we should just let the Argents handle it."

"I'm the one who turned him. It's my fault."

"Yeah, but you didn't turn him into this. I mean, this happened because of something in his past, right?"

"That's a legend in a book. It's not that simple."

"What do you mean? What are you not telling me?"

"Why do you think I'm always keeping something from you?"

Rayne tells him, "Because you always are keeping something from everyone Derek."

"Well, maybe I do it to protect you." He says looking back at Rayne.

"Doesn't being part of your pack mean no more secrets?"

"Go home, Scott. Sleep. Heal. Make sure your friends are safe. Cause the full moon's coming. And with the way things are going, I've got a feeling it's gonna be a rough one."

Scott leaves, Rayne stands up sighing, "I'm gonna go home, shower and rest." Derek nods his head, not looking up until he hears her ask. "Do you wanna come?"

* * *

Rayne gets out of the shower to see Derek still sitting on the side of her bed, just where she left him when she got in the shower twenty minutes ago. She stands leaning against the doorway of the bathroom, arms crossed, she sighs, tightening her towel around herself she walks over and sits down Indian style facing Derek.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"Derek, you don't have to be closed off with me. Look at me, please."

She gently lays her hand on his cheek, turning his face to meet hers. "Please Derek. Trust me."

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, "Scott almost died tonight, and it would've been my fault."

"How can you say that? Derek, Scott is alive because of you. Incase you forgot, that psychotic bitch is what almost killed Scott. Not to mention, both of us."

She stares into his eyes, in them she sees disappointment, anger and pain, all of which are directed at himself. "Derek, you can't hold yourself responsible for everyone. All of us knew what we were getting ourselves into, we knew the risks. You may be the Alpha but even you can't protect everyone all the time. You have to trust that you taught them well, and make them trust in their abilities."

Rayne scoots closer, taking his face in her hands, "You are an amazing Alpha. You're pack respects you and trusts you, both traits that are not easy to come by. You just need to trust yourself as much as they trust you. As much as I trust you."

Derek stares into her eyes, he sees the admiration she holds for him, that in itself makes him feel like everything he has done till now was right, and worth it. She makes him feel like the greatest man on the earth, even though he knows he is much less. When he's with her, she makes him forget everything, nothing else exists but the two of them. No responsibilities, no one to save, no one to anger, no one trying to kill him or his pack. His eyes dart down to her moist lips, he wants to, but he knows what their risking and he's not sure if he's willing to lose it.

"I wish we could Rayne, but I don't want to lose you. I—I'm afraid."

Rayne's heart clenches, her mouth suddenly dry, her throat swollen as she chokes out her reply, "Yeah. I understand. So maybe after this is all over I'll leave for a little while. Maybe us being apart would do us some good."

"I see." He takes her hands in his, gently kissing her knuckles, then laying a soft kiss on her forehead. "It never would've worked between us anyway. We're too much alike." He stands up going into the bathroom, Rayne waits till she hears the shower start, then she cries. She knows he's right, but it still doesn't stop the stabbing pain in her heart. She hears the shower shut off and rather than let him see her cry, she quickly gets up, grabs clothes from her closet and goes downstairs to get dressed.

* * *

Derek sighs in the shower, leaning his head against the cool tiles. His entire body is telling him to go back out there and kiss her senseless. His inner Wolf is clawing, desperately wanting out, crying out for him to take her over and over until she never wants to leave Beacon Hills or him. He wants to bite her, mark her as his mate. He hears his father telling him, they'll be stronger together. But he hears his Uncle saying two Alphas together is the makings of a disaster. Derek has dreams of the two of them together, but it only ends in bloodshed. He and Rayne fight for dominance, and each time it ends with Derek slashing her throat and she bleeds out in his arms.

Meanwhile his head is telling him they have bigger things to worry about right now.

And his heart is telling him to tell her that he loves her.

He hears her small sobs in the bedroom, his heart clenches at the desperate cries. It hurts him more when he realizes, he has never seen Rayne cry before, not even when she was in dire pain. But here she was crying, because of him.

He finishes his shower and gets out, hearing her walking downstairs. He knows she'll never let him see her cry, or find evidence that she has been. He dresses in his spare clothes and heads downstairs, she is in the kitchen making coffee. He comes to stand behind her, she feels his presence and sighs turning to face him. He places his hands on the counter behind her, she squirms trying to push him away. Derek leans towards her pressing his body into hers, effectively trapping her against the counter.

She turns her head to the side looking out the kitchen window. He leans down nuzzling her neck, then lifting his head, his lips brushing over her ear. He grins as he hears her breath hitch. "I want to, believe me Rayne, you have no idea how hard it is for me to resist you. And not just physically either. Everything about you makes you irresistible to me. But neither of our pasts make us good at relationships."

He stops, laying a finger on her chin and turning her to face him. He leaned down gently brushing his lips over hers, he pulls back judging her reaction. It only takes a moment before she pushes up on her tip toes and captures his lips with her own. His tongue runs along her bottom lip, a silent question, asking for entry. Rayne obliges opening her mouth, his tongue snakes inside tangling with hers, both of them dueling, fighting for dominance. He presses his body against her harder as he ravages her mouth. He hears a small moan come from her, which in turn causes his inner Wolf to growl. They pull apart, both breathing hard, Derek rests their foreheads together.

"After this is all over, we're gonna find out if two Alphas can make it together."

* * *

Several hours later the two Alphas are preparing the Beta's for the full moon coming. Erica stands in the doorway of one of the cars, Boyd sits on a box in front of her. Derek and Rayne stand by a large trunk, opening it the Beta's notice there's a symbol inscribed on the inside of the lid.

Isaac reaches down touching it, "What is that?"

"It's a triskele," Boyd answers looking at Derek for confirmation. Derek gives him a nod, impressed that Boyd has done his research.

Boyd continues, "Spirals mean different things, past, present, future. Mother, father, child."

"You know what it means to me?" Derek asks Boyd.

"Alpha, Beta, Omega?"

"That's right." Derek nods to him. "It's a spiral. Reminds us that we can all rise to one or fall to another. Betas can become Alphas, but Alphas can also fall to Betas or even Omegas."

"Like Scott?" Isaac says with a smile.

Derek gives him a look, "Scott's with us."

"Really? Then where is he now?"

Rayne picks up a small pipe, she chucks it and it makes a nice hollow ding as it bounces off the back of Isaac's head. He turns to her glowering as he rubs his head, "Didn't anyone ever tell you, never question your Alpha. Learn your place Isaac. I may have bit you, but he is your Alpha. Don't make me regret my decision."

She meets Derek's eyes and he looks away from her, at times like this, she makes him realize, she's the better Alpha. She can stand up to his Betas better than he can, command them to respect him, when he should be commanding his own respect. He sighs knowing he has a lot of work to do.

He looks back at Isaac, "He's looking for Jackson. Don't worry, he's not gonna have it easy tonight either. None of us will." He reaches into the trunk pulling out a set of chains attached to a collar. "There's a price you pay for this kind of power. You get the ability to heal. But tonight you're gonna want to kill anything you can find."

"Good thing I had my period last week, then." Rayne chuckles looking over at Erica, she shakes her finger at Erica, mouthing, 'Bad girl!'

The guys all look at her, Derek glances at Rayne chuckling, she immediately hides behind her hand so he can't see her. He holds up a particularly painful looking collar. It goes around the head and has 6 steel screws that embed into the skull.

"Well, this one's for you."

Rayne goes into the train car where Derek is setting up the restraints.

"What if we break free?" Boyd questions.

"Then you'll do anything you can to get out of here. Probably try to kill me, and Rayne, then kill each other and kill anything else with a heartbeat. I need you to hold her."

Isaac wraps his arms around Erica's pinning them behind her, Rayne stands to Derek's left holding Erica's hand.

"So how come she gets to wear the headband thing?" Isaac asks.

"Because she'll be able to withstand more pain than the two of you."

Erica snickers and Rayne smiles squeezing her hand. Derek looks to Isaac, "I've got an extra one if you really want it."

"I'll pass."

"You ready?" Derek says looking at Erica, who nods, taking a deep breath, "Yeah." Derek places the steel on her head, he takes hold of the first screw in the middle of her forehead. Erica gasps, screaming as Derek tightens the screw, blood streaming down the bridge of her nose. Rayne squeezes her hand tightly letting her knows she's here for her. It's a small gesture but Erica understands, grasping her hand back. The two boys cringe at the sounds of Erica's screams, feeling her pain radiate through the car.

After they get Erica and Boyd strapped in to the back of the car, the two of them screaming loudly, Derek moves to lock Isaac into one of the seats. The young Beta asking his Alpha, "How do you two not feel this?

"We feel every second of it."

"Then how do you control it?"

"Find an anchor. Something meaningful to you. Bind yourself to it. Keep the human side in control."

"What is it for you two?"

Rayne glances down at Derek before she leaves the car, Isaac giving a curious glance to her as she walks away. Derek answers him, "Anger. But it doesn't have to be that for everybody."

"You mean Scott?"

"Yeah. All right, that should do it." Derek yanks on the chains of Isaac's feet, the bench they were attached to breaks away. Derek looks up at Isaac in alarm as he hears growls, Boyd and Erica are watching him their yellow eyes glowing. The three Betas struggle against their chains, growling and snarling.

* * *

Outside the car Rayne watches Derek dial his phone. "Scott, can you call me back? We're probably gonna need some help." They both turn as they hear a loud bang in the car behind them. "Definitely gonna need some help."

Derek steps forward flicking his hands, his claws extending, "No matter what happens, stay out here. Please."

If it wasn't such a serious moment Rayne would've commented how hot he looked, standing with his back to her, in a tight grey tank top, black jeans, his claws extended, the muscles rippling beneath his skin. Rayne nods, "Don't worry about me." She holds up her hands, her claws springing forth, if he didn't know better he'd swear she sharpened them. "They won't get past me." She nods to the car, "Here we go."

Derek runs into the car, the three Betas growling and barking at him, he steps past Isaac who lunges for him. Erica takes the headband off tossing it at Derek's feet as she breaks her cuffs. Lunging for him, he ducks hitting her in the back, knocking her down. Isaac breaks free jumping through a window of the car, glass shattering around him, "Isaac!"

Derek runs to catch him, but is grabbed from behind by Boyd, "Rayne!" He listens for growling and the slicing of flesh but hears nothing, his mind races with images of Rayne being ripped apart by the uncontrolled Beta.

Derek is on the ground being clawed and choked by Boyd and Erica. Derek's Wolf takes over as he hits Erica knocking her down and head butts Boyd sending him to the floor. Derek rushes to Erica locking her back up, as he turns he sees Boyd heading towards the door of the car. He starts after him, only to see Isaac come running back in and shove Boyd down into a seat. Erica lurches up and claws Derek's back, he turns, punching her in the face and knocking her out. He looks back at Isaac who gives him a nod, Derek nods back. Rayne walks into the car behind Isaac, Derek lets out a deep breath at knowing she's alright.

After Derek locks Boyd back up in the back of the car, Isaac sits down in the seat where he was, Derek locking him back up. "Think you'll be okay now. Looks like you found an anchor."

"My father."

Derek eyes him confused, "Your father locked you in a freezer in the basement to punish you."

"He didn't use to."

Derek stepped out of the car, coming face to face with….

* * *

Rayne stays behind, she leans down, Isaac kisses her cheek, "Thank you."

"For what Isaac, I almost ripped out your throat."

"For believing in me."

Rayne smiled at him, true she had every intention of decapitating him when he came out the window, but something in his eyes made her stop. And now she was glad she had.

* * *

…Lydia?

She stands in front of Derek, holding out her hand she blows a handful of purple dust in his face. It hits his face instantly knocking him out, falling to the ground. Rayne hears something outside, she goes to the door to find Derek lying on the ground. As she steps out she comes to face with, "Lydia?" The girl blows a purple powder in her face, Rayne faints hitting the floor.

* * *

Derek wakes up to find himself weak and being dragged across the floor of his old house. "Lydia."

"Lydia."

"Lydia, stop."

She takes Derek's arm and places it in Peter's hand, his dead burned corpse under the floor of the house.

"You don't know what you're doing."

* * *

Rayne wakes a few moments after Lydia leaves with Derek. She sits up shaking her head trying to clear the haze behind her eyes. She's weak, but she pushes herself up, she has to find Derek. She looks around, "Derek? Derek!?"

She calms herself down, calling her wolf training to the front of her mind. She notices purple powder on the floor, she dips her fingers in it, sniffing it she recoils quickly…

"Wolfsbane."

Going outside she looks up at the full moon and realizes in an instant what is happening. She shifts dropping to all fours and loping as fast as she can to the Hale house praying she isn't too late.

After several minutes of running she comes upon the house, there isn't anything to indicate there are people here. She approaches the front door cautiously, opening it slowly, hearing movement inside. She finds Derek lying on the floor and quickly moves to his side.

"Derek! Are you okay?"

Her head turns to find…

"Lydia? What are you doing?"

Lydia walks over to a mirror, tilting it up, it catches the moonlight and directs to several mirrors all over the room and finally directly into the hole containing Peter's body. Within seconds Peter's claws embed in Derek's forearm, his eyes opening. Derek grimaces, his eyes close as the pain flows through him, his eyes snap open, the red in them fades.

Lydia lands on her knees next to Derek who can still barely move, he scoots back ending up in Rayne's lap, his back pressed against her chest. The three of them watch as Peter rises from the hole covered in ashes. "I heard there was a party." He looks up at them a devilish grin forming on his face, "Don't worry. I invited myself."


	10. Fury

******Disclaimer - I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

**Marine76 - **Thank you for the review, yes creepy Peter is back :) He's one of my faovrite characters so I will have him as much as possible.

Also thank you to all of you who have chosen to favorite or followed this story and myself. It means so much. But I could use some more reviews please and thank you ;)

Xoxo Tiearney

* * *

Derek is lost in a dream, everything around him is white, he's shirtless and sweating heavily. He can hear Dr. Deaton calling him but he can't respond.

"Derek… Can you hear me?"

"Derek… Can you hear me?"

"I need you to answer me, Derek."

"Derek! We don't have much time."

He hears Rayne's voice, choked with tears, "Derek please, come back to me."

A piercing sound brings him out of his dream. He opens his eyes to find Rayne and Dr. Deaton kneeling over him. He lifts himself up onto his elbows.

"That sound. What was it?"

Deaton holds up a dog whistle, smiling at Derek. Rayne bites her lip, trying not to laugh. Derek mock glares at her, before sighing and standing up. He loses his balance and the two rush to steady him, Deaton takes his arms and Rayne steadies him, his back against her chest.

"You're gonna be weak for several hours."

Derek looks down at his arm blood still seeping from the open claw marks, and then to the empty hole in the floor, having a flashback of Peter rising. "It actually happened."

"Don't worry. You're still an Alpha. But, as usual, not a particularly competent one."

"Where is he?"

"I wish I could tell you."

"Then how about you tell me what you're doing here, and why you're helping me?"

"Helping your family actually used to be a pretty important part of my life. Helping you was a promise I made to your mother."

Derek eyes him backing up a few steps, "You're the one my sister talked about. She said you're a kind of advisor?"

"She was right. And I have some advice that you need to listen to very closely right now. What Peter managed to do doesn't come without a price. He'll be physically weak, so he'll rely on the strength of his intelligence, his cunning. He's gonna come at you, Derek. He'll try to twist his way inside your head, preying on your insecurities. He'll tell you that he's the only way you can stop Gerard. Do not trust him."

"I don't trust anyone."

"I know."

"If you did, you might be the Alpha you like to think you are. And unfortunately, the one person you should trust doesn't trust you at all."

"Scott."

"He's with Stilinski right now. You need to find him, you need to find him as fast as you can. I've known Gerard for a long time. He always has a plan. And something tells me… It's going exactly the way he wants it too."

"Back to the station," was all Derek said. He tried to take a step forward, but his knees gave out a bit and he dropped to the floor with a bang. Rayne didn't even hesitate. Forcing strength into her arms, she reached down and grabbed his bicep. Two heaves later and his arm was around her shoulder and his weight was pressing against her side and he was steady. She helped him out to Deaton's car and tried to forget that no matter how much he relied on her, he didn't actually trust her. Even though he had told her once, she was the only one he trusted.

That hurt. A lot.

* * *

The car ride was silent until they reached the station. But Deaton ignored Derek in favor of Rayne. "Be safe," he told her. "And keep an eye on him." When he gestured to the staggering Alpha, Rayne followed his gaze. Yes, that man needed some help. Lots of help, actually. And she would try her best.

"Thank you," she said. And then the vet was gone.

"Let's get you cleaned up and then we can go find Scott and Stiles," she suggested, steading the man again.

"No," Derek shook his head. "I'm going alone." And that was final.

"What?" Rayne stopped walking and therefore forced Derek to pause. "Why?"

"I need someone to watch the Betas," he told her, frowning. "The moon is still full and the hunters might use this as an excuse."

"They're exhausted," Rayne argued. "They aren't going to break out. They'll be fine," she concluded. "You're gonna need my help with Scott and Stiles— whatever's going on can't be good."

"I can handle it," he said gruffly and pulled himself out of Rayne's grasp so that he could continue without her.

"So you trust me to babysit the Betas, but you don't trust me to watch your back…?" Rayne put her hands on her hips and walked right passed him. "Good to know where I fall on your nonexistent trust-spectrum." She didn't mean to sound so bitchy— but it was getting to her… his comment. "I don't trust anyone," he had said. And she had been standing right next to him. If there was anyone in this world he could trust, it was Rayne. And yet there he was, bundling her in with everyone and even though a more logical part of her brain was processing the idea that that kind of response was just a habit… she knew the truth. She had been fooling herself. He didn't trust her. He didn't trust anyone. He could kiss her. Almost fuck her. But he couldn't trust her.

And that was the truth.

Derek followed her on feet that were relatively steady… up until the stairs. When the first step left him grasping the rail with white knuckles, Rayne sighed and grabbed his hands. Mentally, she pushed aside her angry thoughts and focused on steadying the man as they made their way down the staircase.

When they entered the train car, Isaac immediately asked, "What happened?" His face was still shifted, but his bindings were in place.

"Rayne will explain," Derek brushed off the question and made his way into the renovated car alone.

"Later. Right now we're going to find Scott and Stiles." Rayne tried to keep her face from showing her fury, "We're not done here Derek."

"Are you going with?" Isaac asked.

"No," Derek answered for her, returning with a fresh shirt. "She's going to stay here." And that was the end of that. The Alpha pushed his way out of the train car. Rayne watched his retreating back for only a moment before she took off after him— jogging to catch up. He seemed to realize she was following because he said over his shoulder, "That is final."

But she didn't say anything and she didn't stop. She just reached out and wrapped her hand around his wrist, "Scott is my brother. I'm going!"

Derek turned to face her, searching her eyes for something Rayne didn't think she knew how to express. Gently, his fingertips skimmed over her cheek and she wanted him to kiss her because him leaving now just felt wrong— but mostly she wanted him to trust her. And now it was no longer a matter of being angry about not being trusted by this man. She was just sad. She was just sad that he no longer seemed to have the capability to trust and she was just sad that she had fallen in love with a man who would not— could not, trust her.

Once, he had said that he didn't want her first relationship to be with someone who couldn't love her back. She hadn't understood then what that meant.

Sometimes she thought he loved her. Like, at this moment. His soft green eyes reflected her face back at her and his callused fingertips brushed against the apple of her cheek, skimming words he couldn't say onto her skin in a pattern only they were familiar with. At this moment, she thought he loved her as much as she loved him.

"And you wonder why we can't be together."

And then his hand fell away and he walked away and she knew… he didn't love her.

He couldn't love her. Because he didn't trust her. Because he didn't trust anyone. And it wasn't that he couldn't trust her— he could, if he wanted to. This was Derek Hale— the werewolf who had been to hell and back… he could do anything. Rayne firmly believed that. If he wanted to trust someone, he would. But he didn't want to trust anyone. Once upon a time he had been a boy and had trusted without any hesitation and that trust got his family killed. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice, she realized now.

She should leave.

She should go. Before she could no longer leave— before this got to the point where she couldn't leave.

Go, she told herself.

And she went. She shoved right past him, heading for the only thing that was keeping her in this town, her family.

"When this is over Derek… So are we."

* * *

Rayne drove them to the police station, parking around back, she and Derek made their way inside, things spiraled out of control quickly after that.

Scott and Stiles are standing in the office with Matt, when they hear the knock on the door, thinking its his mom, Scott opens it. On the other side stands Derek, Scott sighs with relief, "Oh, thank God." But before they can celebrate, Derek falls to the floor, paralyzed. Behind him stands Jackson, in front of whom stands Rayne, her long red hair wrapped around his hand, her wrists bound behind her with a thick rope. Jackson drags Rayne into the office, tossing her unceremoniously onto the floor against the wall, to the left of Derek. She smacks her head and things go blurry for awhile.

Matt, who is the one controlling the Kanima, walks over looking down at her, "You must be Scott's older sister. Mmm, Sexy."

"Don't touch her," Derek growls. Matt turns around, stepping back and leans down over Derek.

"Aw, does Derek have a crush?" He looks between the two, the tension palpable between them. "Naw, I'll bet she's just your little toy, and what a fine one she is. Maybe I can play with her after you're done."

"This is the one controlling him? This kid?" Derek asks ignoring Matt's comments.

"Well, Derek, not everyone's lucky enough to be a big, bad werewolf. Oh, yeah, that's right. I've learned a few things lately." He stands up facing Scott and Stiles. "Werewolves, hunters, Kanima's. It's like a frickin' Halloween party every full moon. Except for you, Stiles. What do you turn into?"

"Abominable snowman. But, uh, it's more of, like, a wintertime thing, you know, seasonal."

Matt nods and Jackson slices the back of Stiles neck, paralyzing him. "Stiles!" Rayne moves to get up but halts as Matt turns his gun on her, she sits back down glaring at him. "You bitch," Stiles gasps out as he falls, landing on top of Derek, who grunts. Scott makes and advance for Jackson but stops thinking better of it.

"Get him off of me," Derek grunts out.

"Oh, I don't know Derek. I think you two make a pretty good pair. It must kinda suck, though, to have all that power taken away from you with just a little cut to the back of the neck. I bet you're not used to feeling this helpless."

"Still got some teeth. Why don't you get down here a little closer, huh? We'll see how helpless I am."

"Yeah, bitch." Stiles mutters.

They all hear a car pull up, Matt glances over at Scott, "Is that her?"

Scott shakes his head hoping its not his mom, Matt sees him, "Do what I tell you to and I won't hurt her. I won't even let Jackson near her."

"Scott, don't trust him!" Stiles yells, Matt rolls him off of Derek and presses his foot down on Stiles' windpipe.

"This work better for you?" Matt asks as Stiles' face turns red, gasping for precious air he's being denied.

"Okay, just stop! Stop!"

"Then do what I tell you to."

"Okay. Alright. Stop!"

Matt takes his foot off Stiles' throat, Stiles chokes and gasps inhaling the sweet oxygen. Matt nods to Jackson, "You, take him in there and watch her." Then he nods to Scott, "You… With me."

After they leave Stiles coughs, "Rayne. Why aren't you paralyzed?"

"I don't know. He knows I'm a wolf though."

"How do you know?"

Her breath is catchy as she answers him, weakness spreading through her. "Because— the rope— is soaked with— Wolfsbane."

* * *

Outside of the office, Rayne hears Scott as he calls to… "Mom?"

She looks around, "Ah, you scared me, where is every…" Looking at Scott she sees Matt with a gun to his head. "Mom, just do what he says. He promised he wouldn't hurt you."

"He's right." Matt says before Scott turns around and Matt fires the gun, the bullet penetrating Scott's lower right abdomen.

"Scott!" Rayne screams, doubling over in pain on the floor. She can literally feel his pain, feel the bullet inside his flesh.

His mom screams, the Sheriff hears the shot and yells from the downstairs holding cells, "Scott?! Stiles! What happened?"

Back upstairs Matt smirks at Melissa, before looking down at Scott, "But I didn't say I wouldn't hurt you." Melissa advances on Scott, but Matt screams at her to back up pointing the gun at her. Scott turns to look at her, "Mom! Mom, stop, Mom!"

Matt takes them down to the holding cells, the Sheriff is still handcuffed to the wall. Scott leans on the bench next to him as Matt locks Melissa in the cell.

"Please, he needs to see a doctor."

"You think so?"

"Hey! Hey, you listen to me!" The Sheriff points his finger sharply at Matt, but Scott interrupts them, "It's all right. I'm okay."

"No, honey, you're not okay."

"It doesn't hurt, Mom."

"Cause that's the adrenaline, okay. Please, let me… Let me just take a look at him, okay? I mean, I can help stop the bleeding."

"They have no idea, do they?"

"Please. Let me just take a quick look."

"Shut up! Shut up! Lady, if you keep talking, I'm gonna put the next bullet through his head."

"Okay, okay."

"Back to the front, McCall. After you."

* * *

Matt follows Scott back up to the front office, Stiles and Derek are still on the floor. Jackson is standing by the door, Rayne on her knees beside him.

"The evidence is gone. Why don't you just go?" Scott tells him.

"You think the evidence mattered that much, huh? No, no, I want the book."

"What? What book?"

"The bestiary. Not just a few pages, I want the entire thing."

"I don't have it. It's Gerard's. What do you want it for, anyway?"

"Answers."

"Answers to what?"

"To this…" Matt lifts his shirt up and Scott sees the same scales growing on him that are on Jackson. Rayne looks down at Stiles and Derek talking from her place at Jackson's feet.

"Hey… You know what's happening to Matt?" Stiles asks him.

"The book's not gonna help him. You can't just break the rules, not like this."

"What do you mean?"

"Universe balances things out. Always does."

"Is it because he's using Jackson to kill people who don't deserve it?"

"Killing people himself."

"So if Matt breaks the rules of the Kanima, he becomes the Kanima?"

"Balance."

"Will he believe us if we tell him that?"

"Not likely."

"Okay, he's gonna kill all of us when he gets that book, isn't he?"

"Yep."

"All right, so what do we do? Do we just sit here and wait to die?"

"Unless I can figure out a way to push the toxin out of my body faster. Like triggering the healing process."

Stiles hears a squishing sound, he looks down and sees Derek digging his claws into the flesh of his leg.

"What? Oh, what are you doing? Oh, gross."

Matt brings Scott up to the main duty office, "You know, I feel sorry for you, McCall. Cause right now, you're thinking "How am I gonna explain this when it heals?" And the sad part is, you don't even realize how incredible it is that you actually are healing. Cause you know what happens to everyone else when they get shot? They die."

"Is that what happened to you?" Scott thinks for a moment, putting the pieces together. "You drowned, didn't you?"

"He shouldn't have let them drink."

"What? Who? Matt, what do you mean?"

"Lahey! He shouldn't have let them drink."

"What? Who was drinking?"

"The swim team, you idiot! I didn't know what was happening. I didn't know they had just won state, and Lahey's letting his favorites come over to have a couple drinks to celebrate. Who cares if they're 17 right?"

"Were you at Isaac's?"

"He had this first edition Spider-man, or was it Batman? And we were gonna make a trade. But then I'm over there and I hear music. And everyone's having a good time, and I see Sean. He throws Jessica in the pool. And then Bennett goes in and…"

"Bennett? What, the hunter?"

"And then Camden. Isaac's jarhead brother, he grabs me. He thinks it's funny."

"They threw you in."

"I yelled that I can't swim, but nobody listens. I go under and I swallow water, and no one cares. And I see these bodies underwater. I see Jessica's got her hands down Sean's board shorts. Tucker's grabbing Kara. And I'm drowning. I'm dying, and they're laughing. All of a sudden, I was just… I'm lying by the pool. And Lahey is right there, right above me, and he says… You tell no one! This is your fault. You don't know how to swim. You say nothing! You tell no one! No one! And I didn't. I didn't tell anyone. And I would see them at school, and they wouldn't even look at me. I'd wake up in the middle of the night. I'd gasp for breath. And my parents, they thought I was asthmatic. They even gave me an inhaler. They didn't know that every time I closed my eyes, I… I was drowning. You know about that little white light that they talk about, you see when you die? Well, I didn't see anything. Just darkness. Everything was dark. But then… Then came the Argent's funeral, and everything changed. I was taking some photos. And then, purely by accident, Lahey gets in one of the photos. I look down at the screen on my camera, and I just have this unbelievable rage that builds up inside of me, and I just… I look at him, and I… I wanna see him dead. And the next day, he actually was. You know, Einstein was right. Imagination is more important than knowledge. It was like something out of Greek mythology. Like… Like the furies coming down to punish Orestes. You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"Was he the guy who stabbed out his eyes?"

"God, that's Oedipus, you dumbass! The furies are deities of vengeance. Their tears ran of blood, and they had snakes for hair. If there was a crime that had gone unpunished, the furies would do the punishing." Matt looks over at Jackson still standing with Rayne's hair wrapped around his hand. "Jackson is my fury. When I saw him the next night, it was like this bond had been cemented between the two of us. I knew he had killed Lahey for me, and I knew he would do it again. So I went to Tucker's garage. I even paid for an oil change. And guess what? He didn't even recognize me. So when he wasn't looking, I took a shot of him with my camera. And in a few hours, he was dead. So I took more pictures. All I had to do was take their picture. And Jackson would take their life."

* * *

Back in the office, Stiles is getting restless, "So is that hypothetical situation we talked about getting any less hypothetical?"

Derek digs his claws in further to his leg, "I think so. I can move my toes."

Stiles sighs, "Dude, I can move my toes."

* * *

All of a sudden, the lights in the station go out and the alarm sounds. Matt starts to panic, "What's this? What's going on?"

"I don't know," Scott answers. Flood lights pierce through the darkness, then rapid gunfire comes through the windows. Matt and Scott take cover under the desks.

* * *

Outside Gerard smiles sadistically, "Shakespeare wrote that love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs. Let's give them some love."

The hunters take their cue, throwing flash smoke grenades into the station. They explode and within seconds, everything is cloaked in a thick cloud of smoke.

* * *

Jackson stares at the smoke filled doorway, Scott almost materializes through the smoke charging Jackson and knocking him down.

Derek is finally able to move, he yells at Scott as he enters the room. "Take him. Go!" Scott grabs Stiles taking him through hallways and doors, locking them behind him trying to stall Jackson's pursuit. Derek slices the ropes freeing Rayne, without saying a word she gets up stumbling down the hall weakly looking for her mom.

Meanwhile Chris and Allison enter the building searching for Derek. They hear screaming coming from down the hall and follow it.

Derek finally free of the toxin, shifts, letting the wolf take over.

Scott takes Stiles into an interrogation room, setting him in a chair, "Don't move." Stiles gives him a look, "You know what I mean." Scott takes off down the hall, just before he reaches the corner Allison shows up in front of him, loaded crossbow in hand.

"Allison."

"Where's Derek?"

"What are you doing?"

"If you're not going to tell me, then get out of my way."

"Allison."

"Where is he?"

"What happened?"

"Scott… Scott, you need to stay away from me right now. You need to go. Just stay out of my way." Allison runs down the hall Scott just came from, he tries to process what just happened.

* * *

Elsewhere in the station Chris is moving slowly down a hallway, he sees Allison come down the other side. He signals her to the look down the rows of shelves. He hears a sound behind him, he turns just as the Kanima jumps down on him knocking him out. Just as its about to slice him open, Allison fires an arrow hitting it straight in the head. It simply reaches up and pulls the arrow out. It hisses at her and charges, Allison turns running into the garage hiding behind a desk, she pulls out a long knife. The door opens and the Kanima crawls into the garage, jumping up onto a desk. The desk she happens to be hiding under. The creature looks under it only to find it empty. From behind Allison jumps onto the hoods of two police cruisers, leaping into the air she stabs the knife into Jackson's chest. He grabs her by the throat, she pulls another smaller knife out of her boot, jabbing it into his side. He stares at her for a moment before he slices the back of her neck, paralyzing her.

"You should've given me a chance." Matt says leaning down next to her. "Cause remember how I said, I'm not the kind of guy who would say something like, "Well, if I can't have her, no one can"? It's not totally true because, Allison, if I can't have you, no one can!"

Matt hears something metal clang in another room, he leaves Allison on the floor. She closes her eyes, when she feels a hand on her they fly open, its only her father. He signals her to be quiet and picks her up carrying her out.

* * *

Downstairs Rayne stumbles into the holding cells, where she finds the Sheriff trying to pull his handcuffed hands off the steel ring embedded in the wall. She walks over, grabbing onto his wrists, she helps him pull until the ring snaps off the wall. But just as he gets free, Matt shows up, punching the Sheriff in the face. He fires a bullet piercing Rayne on the right side of her chest. She hears her mom scream again, Rayne hates that she has to see both her children get shot. Matt backs Rayne up against the bars which Melissa is behind, his arm across her throat. Rayne looks to the hallway to see Stiles trying to drag his limp body in to help. Melissa tries to reason with the young kid, still holding the gun.

"Matt. Matt please listen to me. My children have been shot, and I've heard other gunfire, and I don't know what's happening, but can you please just let me see my kids?"

"How totally clueless are you people?"

Matt turns at the sound of heavy breathing, he still holds Rayne pinned by her throat to the bars. She calms as she sees the source of the breathing, Derek has healed from the paralysis, he's shifted, his red eyes piercing the dim room. He growls loud as he sees Rayne being choked and the blood on her chest. Melissa is in shock, she's not sure what she's seeing. The Kanima then shows up out of the opposite door from Derek, he roars as the Kanima charges him. He grabs it throwing it onto the top of a desk. Matt lets go of Rayne, she crumples to the floor clutching her throat, as he runs out the door. Derek is thrown backwards on the floor, he gets up charging the Kanima, picking up a chair he holds it between the creature and himself. The Kanima grabs the chair pushing Derek over the back of the desk. Derek gets up advancing on the Kanima, it grabs the bars of Melissa's cage and using them for leverage he kicks Derek across the room, slamming into the wall.

The Kanima then focuses on Melissa, it tries desperately to reach her through the bars, hissing and growling. All at once a loud growl is heard, Scott has arrived, digging his claws into the Kanima's back, he throws it away from the cage. Rayne shifts tearing the bullet from her chest, she leaps onto the Kanima tearing into the skin of its chest. It throws her off, she lands in a crouch next to her brother. The Kanima takes off out the door, Derek follows it, but the McCall siblings stay where they are.

"Oh, God, Scott? Rayne?" Neither of her kids look at her. "Scott, Rayne, are you okay?" She kneels down trying to get a good look at them. "Scott? Rayne?"

Both siblings turn their heads to look at her, yellow and red meeting brown. She gasps backing away from the cage, from them. She starts to cry, emotions flooding her as she realizes what her children have become, "No!" Scott lowers his head before he runs from the room, but Rayne stays. She stares at her mom, willing her to understand. Rayne steps toward the cage and her mom nearly trips trying to back up away from her, Rayne can feel the fear radiating off the older woman. "I'm sorry mom." Rayne whispers before she bolts from the room.

She starts to round the corner and freezes, she can hear Gerard and Scott speaking, "What are you doing here? It wasn't supposed to happen like this."

"Trust me, I'm aware of that."

"I've done everything that you've asked of me. I'm part of Derek's pack, I've given you all the information that you wanted, I told you Matt was controlling Jackson…"

"And leave him to us. Help your friends. Leave Matt and Jackson to me. Deal with your mother. Go!" Scott goes to leave when Gerard drops his pill container, Scott picks it up handing it back, "You dropped this."

"Go!"

Rayne moves further down the hall to avoid Gerard seeing her, but she's not the only one whose heard Scott's confessions. Down another hallway stands Derek. He waits till Scott and Gerard have left, then he heads down the hallway, following Rayne's scent.

He goes outside finding her truck still in the parking lot, he tilts his nose to the wind, sniffing he catches her scent. He follows it through the streets to the edge of the woods. He spies her just inside the tree line, she's still in her wolf form, he approaches cautiously not knowing who's in control at this moment.

"Rayne?"

He calls out to her, but instead of turning, she starts jogging, heading further into the woods. She can hear Derek behind her but she just keeps moving, her mind is still fuzzy from the Wolfsbane, and what just happened with her mom. The she-wolf has taken over, all she sees is red, her claws itch to rip something apart and she knows if she stops it's going to be Derek.

"Rayne. Please stop. Please. Raynelle!"

That last word set fire inside Rayne, she growled as she dropped to all fours and shot away from Derek as fast as her body would take her. She ran till her body hurt, her chest burned. She slowed thinking she had lost Derek, as she didn't hear anything to indicate he was still following her. But just as she stood up on her feet, she was hit hard from behind and rolled to the ground.

She stood up her eyes burning with anger, as she locked eyes with Derek, who stood a mere ten feet from her. Rayne's head lifted toward Derek. She stood, center of the woods, her red eyes even brighter, emanating hatred. With her red hair loose and her pale skin, she was an exquisite horror, like a doll constructed by an evil hand. And she was evil, her darkness coming to him in waves, emanating from the center of her chest even as nothing about her moved and her face remained unmarred by a frown.

The she-wolf gave a roar so loud it shook the ground under Derek's feet, he shifted letting his wolf take over. This had been inevitable, a fight between the two Alphas. In his mind he willed her to back down, but he knew Rayne wasn't in control anymore, the wolf was. This was the outcome he was desperate to avoid, and he honestly didn't know which of them would survive this.

Rayne dipped into a crouch and lunged, her nails digging into Derek's chest as he fell backwards, throwing her off of him. She landed in a crouch as Derek got back to his feet.

"Rayne, this isn't you!" Derek yelled. He grabbed her hands and made her look at him. Only dead, hatred filled eyes stared back. "Fight this!"

"Fuck you!" Rayne slashed at his abdomen, tearing his shirt.

He was thrown into a nearby tree, a groan leaving his lips. It was official, he'd just stepped out of the kiddie pool and into the deep end. And drowning was not an option.

"Rayne!"

The Alpha spun around to face Derek, growling deep in her chest.

"I know, somewhere, deep down that the Rayne I once knew is still in there."

The she-wolf growled at him.

"Deep down, there's still my best friend. Deep down—" He stepped a few inches forward towards her. "— there's still that girl that gave me the part of her that I treasure everyday, I will never forget that day Rayne. I wasn't worthy of you. I'm still not. Do you remember that?" He took another two steps toward her. "Because I do. I remember you and I were inseparable. You, me and Laura? Remember? My family. My mom. Your mom. Scott. This is not you, Rayne."

The she-wolf turned her face to him again, snarling she charged him, he threw her over his shoulder and she slammed into the ground. She jumped up, slashing at his chest repeatedly, until he grabbed her wrists tightly holding her in front of him. She fought him snarling and snapping at his face till he finally sunk his claws into her wrists. The she-wolf howled in pain, trying to dislodge the claws from her bloody flesh.

"Stop struggling! I'm not letting you go. Find your anchor Rayne! Focus. Come back to me."

Rayne searched for her anchor, Derek's heartbeat, its rhythm washing over her, slowly calming her. She listened to it intently, fighting her wolf back into its cage. The red in her irises receded, she shifted back and stopped struggling, her gaze looking up at him. "Rayne? It's me." After a pause, he added, "Derek."

Like she could mistake that deep rumble for anyone else, like she could mistake that little part of her that perked up like an eager puppy saying, It's him. Quick! Go see what he wants.

"Derek."

In an instant everything that had happen hit her at once, she let the tears flow, not caring that Derek was seeing her cry for the first time in their lives. Her body went slack, depleted of energy, Derek cradled her to the ground both of them resting on their knees. He withdrew his claws from her arms, watching as the deep cuts began healing slowly before he met her eyes again. She looked lost, like a child who had lost their mother, and in reality she had.

"What have I done Derek?" He didn't say anything and she continued. "She saw me… She saw Scott. She could barely look at me. She was terrified. I'm a monster, Derek."

He couldn't say anything, mostly because he didn't know what to say. His family had known about him from day one, he never had to deal with them finding out. He just sat there cradling her against his chest, running a hand through her hair.

"Come on let's get you home."

"No. Please Derek. I can't go home, not right now."

Derek nodded, picking her up her took her to his old house knowing it was close by. He took her inside and up to his old room, laying her on the spare air mattress they had left there. He laid down next to her, stroking her hair. Even after what was said between them earlier, he still cared for her and he always would. She was his best friend, the only one who gave a damn whether he lived or died. She was his mate, he knew it, they had never mated nor spoke of it, although his mother and father spoke of it often. They would say, if they could survive one another, they could be the most lethal combination of Alphas in history.

He knew she meant what she had said about them being done and that hurt his heart, literally. He knew he couldn't survive living without her, so that meant he had until this was all over to change her mind.


	11. Battlefield

******Disclaimer - I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

**Marine76 - **Thank you for the review. Yeah I felt bad for both Derek and Rayne as well. I am glad they are endearing, that's what I was going for.

Also thank you to all of you who have chosen to favorite or followed this story and myself. It means so much. But I could use some more reviews please and thank you ;)

Xoxo Tiearney

* * *

A few days later, Derek and Rayne were still at the Hale house. They hadn't left since the night Rayne attacked Derek, he knew she needed time to process what had happened. He had went and picked up her truck, grabbed some different clothes for him at the station, noticing that the Betas were nowhere to be found, and stopped by her house to grab some of her things. He spoke to Scott, learning that their Mom had yet to come out of her room to face him and she hadn't asked about Rayne.

"You really think there's something in here that'll help?" Rayne asked, fingering the doorway of the living room.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But we won't know until we check."

He walked in with confidence, taking the stairs two at a time. The place smelled like old blood and dust— and the hole that had once held Peter was still gaping open. It gave her the creeps. Derek returned with a large chest— it looked heavy— and he carried it like it was a feather. That was the power of the wolf.

Then he dropped it down and opened it with a bang. There was a bunch of books in the trunk and most of them looked older than Jesus himself.

"You know what my favorite thing in school was?" She asked as Derek handed her a book.

"English."

"No. Research," she said sarcastically.

"Nerd," Derek scoffed.

They sat together going through a few books when Rayne looked up, "You remembered English was my favorite subject?"

Derek sighed looking up into her blue eyes, "I remember everything about you. Your favorites were English and Gym, you hated math, you were friends with everyone, your favorite color is green, your least favorite is pink. You love to read books, write poetry, songs and stories. You're great at playing guitar and an amazing singer. You love drive-in movies and being in the water. And your friends and family mean the world to you."

Rayne couldn't help the tears that gathered in her eyes, she smiled at him and went back to her book, silently wiping tears from her eyes with her red long sleeve shirt.

"Derek? What are we looking for again?"

"I don't know, something, anything that can help us."

It was then that Rayne noticed Erica and Boyd's scent, she turned to the living room door, the Betas were standing by the staircase.

They had only just entered the house when Derek shut his book with a snap and said, "You decided." It was neither a question nor a statement. "When?"

Erica shifted her gaze to the side briefly and then admitted, "Tonight."

"Everyone's going to be at the game," Boyd said. "We figured it was the best time."

"It's not like we want to," Erica added as Derek began stepping forward. Rayne couldn't believe it. They were leaving— they were honestly leaving and in the process they would be killing all those who stayed behind.

"What do you want?" Derek asked moving towards them.

Erica sighed, "Since I just turned sixteen a month ago, I wouldn't mind getting my license," she replied. It was a borderline snark. But she softened as she said, "I can't do that if I'm dead, you know?"

"Well, I told you there was a price," he reminded them.

"You didn't say it would be like this," Boyd argued.

"Yeah," Derek's voice rose a bit in volume as he lost his temper. "But I told you how to survive!" Rayne thought back to all the training they had done, all the bruises they had suffered at the hands of both their Alphas— who only had their best intentions in mind. "You do it with a pack," Derek continued to explain. "And you aren't a pack without an Alpha." End of discussion. He turned back to his books.

But Rayne watched the way Boyd's jaw set. "We know," he said.

That made Derek turn around. He searched their faces briefly, they refused to meet his eyes, and then accused, "You wanna look for another pack?" The two Beta's avoided his eyes. "How are you even gonna find one?" He wanted to know.

They shared a look. "We think we already did," Boyd finally said. The look on Derek's face is that of disbelief.

"Like, all of a sudden we heard all this howling," Erica explained. "It was unbelievable."

"There must have been a dozen of them," Boyd put in.

"Maybe more," Erica added.

"Yeah or maybe only two," the Alpha scowled, sighing in frustration. "You know what the Beau Gest effect is? If they modulate their howls with a rapid shift in tone, two wolves can sound like twenty."

Rayne assumed that that would be enough to stop them. If they were ditching the pack because they thought they could find another one, then finding out that that other pack wasn't as appealing might convince them to stay.

But Erica stood her ground. "Look, that doesn't matter, okay? There's another pack out there— there's got to be. We've made up our minds."

"We lost, Derek," Boyd spoke up. "It's over. We're leaving."

"No." Derek set his jaw distinctly and Rayne saw the flash of red in his eyes. "No. You're running. And once you start— you don't stop. You'll always be running."

Neither Boyd nor Erica had anything to say to that. The girl just grabbed the boy's hand and guided him out the door. And then they were out of the house.

"Wait!" Rayne took off after them but they didn't stop. "Erica— Boyd! Please!" Boyd glanced over his shoulder and then dug his heels in so that Erica had to stop too. "Thank you," she said, trying to catch her breath. "Guys," she began.

"You can't stop us," Erica interrupted her.

"I know that," Rayne admitted. They were prepared to face the world alone— fine. Rayne couldn't change that. "I wanted to say…" She took a deep gulp and continued. "I wanted to say goodbye. And good luck. Please, take care of yourselves."

First she hugged Erica and handed her a small black box.

"We will," Erica promised her. "Take care of yourself, too. And… take care of Derek, would you? Just… stay alive."

She tried to smile at her friend. "Couldn't kill us if you tried," she joked. But the humor fell flat. Rayne turned to Boyd and threw her arms around his waist. "Don't let her boss you around too much— not sure if you've noticed but she's kind of a bitch."

"A huge bitch," Boyd agreed, squeezing her a little bit.

Something occurred to her and she had to ask, "What about Isaac? Is he going with you?"

Boyd shook his head, "We told him about the other pack— but he wasn't really interested. He talked to Scott earlier today, I know. I don't know what exactly they talked about, but Isaac's still on the fence. We told him we'd stay in contact in case he changed his mind."

"Okay…" Rayne bit her lip because she was a little worried about her Beta.

"We'll see you around, Rayne." Erica raised her hand to wave.

And with that they disappeared into the forest together.

The loss she felt in her heart was unmistakable. But, in the distance, she heard Derek's heartbeat and knew she wasn't alone. A pack was still a pack so long as there was an Alpha and a Beta, in their case, two Alphas.

* * *

Rayne walked back inside, she resumed her seat in front of Derek. "You still have me. I'm not going anywhere Derek." He leans on the crates, sighing, he picks up a shard of glass studying his reflection, then without warning he turns and throws it.

Rayne sees Peter standing in the doorway, the piece of glass in his hand just brushing the front of his throat, where he caught it. Derek faces him, ready for a fight.

"I expected a slightly warmer welcome. But…" He holds up the shard. "Point Taken."

He looks past Derek at Rayne sitting calmly on a stack of boxes, "Hello Rayne… Looking beautiful as always."

Rayne tosses a small purple flower at Peter, Wolfsbane. "Choke on it."

"Oh, still as feisty as always. I don't understand why you haven't mated her yet Derek. We all know you'll never find anyone better."

Rayne locks eyes with him, Peter used to be family to her but after everything, all she wants to do is rip out his throat. And so does Derek apparently, judging by the growl he exudes from his chest.

"It's quite a situation you've got yourself in here, Derek. I mean, I'm out of commission for a few weeks and suddenly, there's lizard people, geriatric psychopaths, and you're cooking up werewolves out of every self-esteem-deprived adolescent in town."

"What do you want?"

Peter starts across the floor towards Derek, "Well, I want to help. You're my nephew. The only relative that I have left. You know, there's still a lot that I can teach you."

He smiles at Derek placing his hand on his shoulder, "Can we just talk?" Derek looks down at the hand on his shoulder, "Sure. Let's talk."

Rayne knows what's coming and by the time she looks up, Derek has picked up Peter and thrown him across the room, he smashes into the banister of the staircase snapping a few bars as he falls to the floor. Rayne sits back resting her feet on another box, this was going to be entertaining. She smirks as she watches Derek unceremoniously beat Peter, from one side of the house to another. Derek throws him down the flight of stairs, he lands at the bottom crumpled. Derek picks him up by the front of his shirt, punching him, then he kicks him in the ribs.

Peter manages to catch his breath for a moment, spitting up blood, "You don't actually think that I want to be the Alpha again, do you?" He gave a humorless chuckle as though the idea was ridiculous. It wasn't, though. Once he had killed his niece for that power. What would stop him from killing his nephew? "That wasn't my finest performance, considering it ended in my death. I mean, I'm usually more…"

Derek grabs the front of his shirt ready to punch him again, "Okay, go ahead! Come on, do it. Hit me, hit me."

That confused Derek so much so that he paused.

Peter took the opportunity to snark, "I can see that it's cathartic for you. You're letting go of all the anger, self-loathing, and hatred that comes with total and complete failure." Derek had been in the process of cocking his hand back to punch his uncle again— but once again Peter's words had hit home. "I may be the one taking the beating, Derek, but you've already been beaten. So, go ahead. Hit me if it would make you feel better. After all, I did say that I wanted to help."

Rayne stands up walking over to the two men, she takes Derek's fist gently in her hand, "Derek, let him go." He looks at her, not believing she's defending Peter after everything he did. "He obviously went to a lot of trouble to come back from the dead. I think the least we can do is hear him out. Maybe he can help."

Peter glances at Rayne, this woman had become a great Alpha.

She smirks, "And if he can't, then we kill him."

Derek considers her words then lets him go, "You can't help me."

"What do you want Peter?" Rayne asked sitting on the stairs.

The man turned his head and looked her up and down. "Rayne…" he greeted. "You've changed." He jumped to his feet. "You're looking a lot better— healthier." His eyes trailed over her face. "Prettier," he concluded. Then he sniffed in her general direction and his eyes flashed. "If I didn't know better… I would've guessed he'd finally claimed you, but we both know he won't. He's not strong enough."

Derek sits down next to Rayne on the stairs, while Peter is examining himself in a mirror. "See? Prime example right here. I'm not healing as fast."

"Good," Rayne muttered under her breath but Peter ignored her as he continued, "Coming back from the dead isn't easy, you know. I'm not as strong as I used to be. I need a pack. An Alpha like you. I need you as much as you need me."

Derek scoffs, "Why would I want help from a total psycho?"

"First of all, I'm not a total psycho."

"Close enough from where I'm sitting." Peter gives Rayne a raised eyebrow, before rolling his eyes.

"And by the way," Peter began. "You're the one that slashed my throat wide open. But we're all works in progress, right? So. We need each other. Sometimes when you need help, you turn to people you'd never expect. You tried to build your pack. You tried to prepare for the worst. You weren't ready. Because of it, Gerard is winning. He's taking his time. He's toying with Scott. He's going after your wolves, one by one. He's relishing in his victory."

"How about you tell me something I don't know?"

"Oh, I'm going to. And it's gonna prove why you should trust me. Why you need to trust me. Because I'm going to tell you how to stop Jackson."

"What do you mean? How to kill him?"

"Actually, how to save him. Which you've already figured out, haven't you Rayne?"

Derek glances over at her, "You knew? When were you going to tell me?"

"You said it yourself Derek, you don't trust anyone. How could I trust you?"

"I do trust you Rayne."

"You say it, but you don't believe it. I can see it in your eyes."

Derek turns away from her, Peter sighs looking between the two of them, "There's a myth that you can cure a werewolf simply by calling out its Christian name."

"It's just a myth," Derek reminds him.

"Sometimes myths and legends bear a hint of truth. Our name is a symbol of who we are. But the Kanima has no identity. That's why it doesn't seek a pack."

"It seeks a master."

"And who else grows up with no pack? No identity?"

"An orphan," Derek and Rayne speak together.

"Like Jackson. And right now, his identity is disappearing beneath the reptilian skin and you need to bring him back."

"How?"

"Through his heart. How else?"

"You know, in case you hadn't noticed, Jackson doesn't really have too much of a heart to begin with."

"Not true. He'd never admit it, but there is one person. One young lady with whom Jackson shared a real bond. One person who can reach him. Who can save him."

Rayne sighs, "Lydia."

"Your best ally has always been anger, Derek, but what you lack most is heart. That's why you've always known that you need Scott more than anyone. And even somebody as burned and dead on the inside as me knows better than to underestimate the simple yet undeniable power of human love."

* * *

Rayne left the two Hale's to their own devices, she needed to get to the game and keep an eye on things. Truthfully she had an ulterior motive, she was hoping to see her mom, but she wasn't counting on it. When she arrived at the game, it hadn't started yet. Rayne saw Scott and Stiles but she couldn't find Isaac. She looked everywhere but he was literally nowhere that her sight could reach.

She went down to the players bench, kneeling on the ground in front of her brothers. "Hey guys. You ready for this?"

The two boys shook their heads, of course they weren't ready, because neither was she. "Your dad coming?" Rayne asked Stiles trying to ease the two boys.

"Yeah, he's already here." He points to his right, Rayne looks, her heart stopping. The Sheriff is here, sitting right next to her mom. Rayne looks away before her mom can see her watching. Scott looks to them, "You seen Allison?"

"No, you seen Lydia?"

"Not yet."

Rayne keeps quiet, not wanting to worry them any further about the girls they care about.

"You guys know what's going on?"

Scott exhales, "Not yet." Rayne shakes her head, "I've been trying to figure it out all day."

"It's gonna be bad, isn't it? I mean, like people screaming, running for their lives, blood, killing, maiming kind of bad?"

Scott looks between his sister and his best friend, he gives a pregnant pause. "Looks like it."

Stiles legs start shaking, his sign that he's nervous, "Guys, the other night seeing my dad get hit over the head by Matt, you know, while I'm just lying there and I can't even move, it just… I-I want to help, you know, but I can't do the things that you two can do. I can't…"

"It's okay."

"We're losing dude."

The Coach swoops down leaning in between the two boys, "What the hell are you talking about? Game hasn't even started." He chastises Stiles before telling him, "Now put on your helmet and get out there. You're in for Greenberg."

Stiles looks around shocked, did something happen they didn't see? "What? What happened to Greenberg?"

"What happened to Greenberg? He sucks. You suck slightly less." The Coach holds up his hands, weighing the skills of the two players. Scott and Rayne look at Stiles, he looks like he's about to have a coronary. "I'm playing? On the field? With the team?" Scott and Rayne are smiling, the Coach smirks at Stiles, "Yes, unless you'd rather play with yourself."

"I already did that today, twice."

"Oh Stiles, TMI honey." Rayne says cringing, that was not something she needed to know about her adopted brother. Scott laughs as the Coach yells, "Get the hell out there!"

"All right." Stiles freaks, scrambling to gather his stuff.

"Oh, no. Why is my son running on the field?" Rayne hears the Sheriff ask. Her mom looks to him with a confused look, "Because he's on the team?"

The Sheriff looks to her then back at Stiles, "He is. He's on the team. He's on the field." He stands up proclaiming proudly, "My son is on the field!" Melissa smiles as the rest of the parents give the Sheriff wondering looks, as he sits back down.

Rayne's attention turns to Stiles as she hears him, "Oh, dear God." He says shakily, clearing his throat. Scott and Rayne laugh at their friend, he looks terrified to be out there, even though he's been waiting for this moment.

A echoing voice breaks into their world, "Scott. Can you hear me? Ah, you both can. Good. Then listen closely because the game is about to get interesting. Let's put a real clock on this game, Scott. I'll give you two until the last 30 seconds. When that scoreboard clock begins counting down from 30, if you haven't given me Derek, then Jackson is gonna kill someone." The two siblings watch Jackson on the field, both knowing the night just got more dire. "So tell me Scott, Rayne, who's gonna die tonight? Should it be your mother, who so bravely came out to support you? Or the Sheriff, your best friend's father? Or how about the pretty little redhead who managed to survive the bite of an Alpha? Or maybe one of these innocent teenagers with their whole life ahead of them?"

They hear Stiles voice again, "Oh, God." He clears his throat clutching his lacrosse stick in his hands.

"Or should I do everyone a favor and kill that ridiculous Coach? It's up to you Scott. But you are going to help me take Derek down. Because if you don't, I'll have Jackson rip someone's head off right in the middle of the field and drench everyone you love and care about in blood."

The game starts and the ball is thrown into Stiles net, before he can register what's happening he's tackled by a player from the opposing team. Each time Stiles gets the ball, he's either tackled or fumbles the ball. His dad, Melissa and Lydia who has taken a seat next to her, all look on completely embarrassed for Stiles. Rayne sits on the bench next to her brother, Scott's fidgeting, he wants to play so bad but the Coach is under strict orders from Principal Gerard, not to let McCall play. Scott goes to stand up when the Coach shoves him back down, "Sit down, McCall."

"But, Coach, we're dying out there."

"Oh, I'm aware of that. Now sit."

Scott sighs, both siblings turn to the left seeing a familiar blonde head sit next to them.

"Isaac. You didn't go." Rayne says giving a small smile.

"I can't leave my Alpha." He says giving her a wink, her smile widens as she leans over Scott kissing Isaac's cheek.

"You came to help." Scott asks him.

"I came to win." Isaac says smiling.

The three wolves look over to their right to see Gerard standing at the far side of the bleachers, watching them intently.

"You got a plan yet?" Isaac asks as he suits up.

"No, right now it's pretty much just keep Jackson from killing anyone."

"Well, that might be easier if you're actually in the game. We have to make it so Coach has no chance but to play you."

"How do we do that? He's got a bench full of guys he can use before he ever puts me on the field." The three of them gaze at the bench of players, then the siblings look at Isaac a knowing look on all their faces. "Can you do it without putting anyone in the hospital?" Scott asks him.

Isaac exhales, "I can try." He puts on his helmet and gloves heading out onto the field. He stops next to Jackson, who looks over at him, a grin forming on Isaac's face before he moves to his position. One by one Isaac takes out his own team mates.

At one point Jackson takes out Isaac, hitting him hard enough to really hurt him. Scott and Rayne run out to check on him, "It's not broken. But I can't move it. I think Jackson nicked me cause I can feel it spreading."

Gerard's voice echoes in Scott's ear, "You want to play chess, Scott. Then you better be willing to sacrifice your own pawns." The EMT's lift Isaac onto a stretcher wheeling him off the field. The Coach comes out and hands Scott his helmet, "McCall. Either you're in or we forfeit."

Melissa runs out to her kids, Rayne is shocked to see her speaking to them. "Something's happening, isn't it? Something more than a lacrosse game?"

"You should go." Rayne tells her.

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere. But everything that I said before, forget it. All of it. Okay? If you can do something to help, then you do it. You have to."

"We will." Scott tells her.

Rayne suddenly feels very uncomfortable having her mom next to her, "I'm gonna go check on Isaac." She heads off the field, as she nears the bleachers a hand on her forearm stops her. "Rayne. Wait honey please."

Rayne takes a deep breath turning around she faces her mother, she looks slightly older after the last few days. "Rayne… I'm so sorry. I-I was afraid. Let's face it, things like this are only supposed to be in the books I used to read to you when you were young. But, I'm getting used to it. I'd rather have you as a werewolf, then not have you in my life at all."

Rayne had tears in her eyes as her mother embraced her, holding her tight and stroking her hair. As they pulled back Melissa hesitated, there was something she wanted to ask. "What is it mom?"

"Well, I know how Scott became a wolf but, how did you? Your eyes are a different color than Scott's, are you different from him."

"Yeah. Um, Scott's what we call a Beta. I'm an Alpha."

"Like Derek."

"Yes. Then there are Omegas, lone wolf's, they choose to live without a pack or get thrown out of a pack. They don't have a high life expectancy."

"But you have a pack."

"Not much of one anymore. But yes we have a pack."

"How did this happen to you?"

Rayne sighs heavily, "Do you remember the night you gave birth to me?"

"Yeah. I was out walking, trying to get you to come out faster. I was attacked by something, I thought it was a dog. They rushed me to the hospital, and a few hours later, there you were." By the look on Rayne's face, she knew something her mom didn't. "That's not the whole story is it?"

Rayne shook her head, "Mom, what bit you, was a werewolf. An Alpha."

"But Scott said a bite from an Alpha turns you, and we all know I'm not a werewolf."

"I know. According to books there have only been a handful of recorded times that a pregnant woman has been bitten by a werewolf, stayed human, but gave birth to a werewolf. You were bit on your stomach, the toxin travels by bloodstream. When you're pregnant most of your nutrients and anything in your bloodstream gets transferred directly to the baby. The toxin bypassed you and was absorbed directly into me. I was born a full blooded werewolf."

"How did you find this out?"

"Derek's family, the Hale's. They had been keeping an eye on me since I was born. They took me under their wings and taught me everything I needed to know."

Melissa smiled, "That explains why you spent so much time there." Then she smirked, "And here I always thought it was cause you had a crush on Derek."

"That was part of it." Rayne smiled at her mom. "They felt responsible for me."

"Why cause they were werewolves too?"

"Yeah, that and the fact that I was sired by a Hale." Rayne ducked her head she didn't want to see her mom's reaction, which was one of horror. "What do you mean? One of them bit me?"

Rayne nodded still looking to the ground, "Derek's dad. He was running from the hunters one night, he had been shot with Wolfsbane. Sometimes it drives you crazy before it hurts you, gives you hallucinations. He saw you and from behind, you looked like one of the hunters. He couldn't think straight, his wolf had fully taken him over, he was being driven by pure instinct. He didn't realize what he had done until it was too late. He vowed to protect us from then on. It was an accident mom, he didn't mean to."

"I believe you honey and it doesn't matter, I got you, my angel."

Her mom hugged her again, "Now you go do what you have to. I believe in you sweetheart, you can stop this."

"Thanks mom. I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

Back on the field, everything seems to be going awry, both Scott and Stiles have been knocked to the ground by the opposing team. Gerard's voice again invades Scott's ears. "Don't you know what you're really bargaining for, Scott? Haven't you guessed what the real offer on the table is? It's Allison. It's always been Allison. You give me Derek, and I'll let you have Allison."

* * *

Rayne searched for Isaac but she couldn't find him anywhere. Frowning, she stopped, closing her eyes, she tried to sniff her Beta out— and there he was. She took off at a run to get into the locker room because under the initial scent of Isaac, there was a scent mingling with it— Gerard and two unfamiliar scents.

Pressing herself against the wall outside the locker room, she heard Gerard speaking and then the zing of metal. She would need to fight them off. They were going to kill her Beta and she needed to save him— needed to help him. She listened to what was going on in the room, waiting for the best moment to take out all three of them without letting them hurt her Beta.

"It was a good effort, Isaac. It was." Rayne heard Gerard's sword unsheathe, and Isaac's heartbeat quicken. "This would be so much more poetic if it were halftime." Gerard advances on Isaac, running the tip of the sword along the concrete. Isaac has managed to pull himself into a standing position, leaning on the sinks for balance. Gerard lifts the sword prepared to strike when he pauses noticing a smile on Isaac's face. In the mirrors reflection Gerard sees Scott and Rayne standing behind him, their eyes glowing.

Instantly, Rayne claimed the asshole on the right— slashing him straight down the chest. Before he had a chance to recover Rayne spun around and her heel connected with his chest. He flew over a bench and banged into the lockers, sliding down to the ground and remaining there. Scott successfully dealt with the other hunter, slamming him into a row of lockers.

"Where is he?" Scott suddenly asked.

* * *

The three of them head back out to the field, where Stiles is on fire, making goal after goal. Rayne turns to Isaac, "You're not going with Erica and Boyd?"

"No. This is my home it's where I belong. I made a choice. I promised him I'd help. I think this is for the best. I don't want to run— don't want to hide. I've lived in fear for far too long. It's time to take a stand."

Rayne kisses his cheek, forcing a blush to cover his face. "Isaac. I'm so proud of you. I'm proud to be your Alpha." For a moment he just stared at her before telling her, "Thank you. For believing in me."

A smile slid across her face. "You gave me a reason too," she said.

Rayne looks to the scoreboard, the game is tied 9-9 with 2 minutes left on the clock. Rayne watches next to her brother as Stiles scores the last shot of the game, they watch the clock count down the final thirty seconds. Looking to the field they spot Jackson walking into the throng of celebrating players, the buzzer goes off, the entire crowd stands up and cheers. Beacon Hills had won the game, but at what cost Rayne wondered. She searched the field for a body, but she saw none.

"Nothing happened. Nothing." Scott said looking to his sister, she just as confused as he is. Suddenly the lights on the field shut down, encasing everything in darkness. People start screaming, panicked they run every which way. Scott and Rayne try to make their way through the crowd, looking, searching. They hear their mom calling to them, desperately trying to find them. She runs straight into them, "Are you okay mom?"

"I'm fine. But somebody is hurt. Somebody is down on the field."

The lights come back on, Rayne and Scott push their way into the circle of players—Jackson lies on the ground unmoving. Melissa runs over to check on him, "He's not moving. No pulse." She lifts up his jersey, his torso is covered in blood. Lydia has joined the circle, her hysterical cries breaking Rayne's heart, if only Jackson knew how much he meant to this girl.

Scott motions to Rayne and Isaac, "Look." He points down at Jackson's hand, his fingertips covered in blood.

"He did it to himself?" Isaac questions.

In the throws of chaos no one seemed to notice one thing, until the Sheriff began looking around. Stiles was missing.

* * *

Rayne made her way down towards the locker room, her mind preoccupied with everything that had happened just twenty minutes ago. Her distraction proved to be a fatal mistake as she turned a corner to find herself face to face with Gerard. The grin that crossed his face as he tapped the tip of his sword against the ground had her taking a few steps back. However any escape route was cut off as two more hunters stepped into the corridor behind her, shotguns in hand.

Rayne squared her shoulders, crossing her arms defiantly across her chest she locked eyes with the elder hunter.

"You really shouldn't wander around alone Raynelle. This is a dangerous town. Anything could happen to a beautiful woman without someone to protect her."

"See that's where you're wrong. Thinking that I need someone to protect me." In a split second Rayne's eyes turn red, she kicks her right leg out catching Gerard in the chest with her boot knocking him backwards down the hall. She then whips around, growling she bares her teeth at the two hunters who raise their guns in tandem.

Too slow.

Rayne punches the one on her left in the face, the sound of crunching bones echoes in the empty hallway followed by the metallic smell of blood. She quickly kicks the other man in the stomach slamming him back against the wall. She turns back to the first one who has his back to her and grabs him in a choke hold. She then jumps up wrapping her long legs around the other's neck, squeezing him tightly. Both of the men claw at her arms and legs but it is no use. Rayne then jerks her body to the right and plants both men onto the floor directly on their heads, knocking them out.

Just as she stands up an agonizing pain rips through her body emanating from her torso. She tilts her head down to find the blade of Gerard's sword piercing through her body just below the middle of her ribcage. Gerard grabs her shoulder, shoving the sword in until the hilt touches her back.

She feels his breath on her neck as he whispers in her ear. "This is for my daughter."

"Ahh!" Rayne screams as Gerard twists the blade back and forth within her body.

Unexpectedly Gerard bellowed from behind Rayne, she could hear the slick of nails penetrating the skin of his back. Then came a voice that sent chills down her spine but was her salvation at the same time.

"This is for Rayne and Scott."

Gerard was thrown away from her, she heard him thump onto the tile floor somewhere behind her. Then unexpectedly the blade was swiftly pulled from her body, eliciting a scream from the she-wolf. She heard it clatter onto the floor as she tipped backwards, her body weak.

"Whoa, it's okay. I got you Rayne."

Arms wrapped around her waist easily lifting her into a set of defined arms. Rayne's head lulled to the side revealing her savior.

Peter.


	12. Mastermind

******Disclaimer - I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

**Meggyboo92 - **Thank you for the review. Yes, Peter does care for Rayne and I do get the feeling he cares for Scott. And while Rayne did keep what she knew from Derek, she just doesn't know whether she can fully trust him yet or not.

Thank you to all of you who have chosen to favorite or followed this story and myself. It means so much. But I could use some more reviews please and thank you ;)

So here it is the finale of season 2, enjoy!

Xoxo Tiearney

* * *

Rayne got a text from her mom saying she was riding along to the hospital with Jackson's body. Rayne was currently in the locker room with her brother and Beta talking with Sheriff Stilinski.

She zoned out of the conversation for a moment, her mind replaying the scene moments earlier with the former Alpha.

* * *

_Peter stepped into one of the empty classrooms, perching Rayne on the edge of the desk he steadied her as her body focused on healing itself. Her eyes lifted focusing on his face, he could see the apprehension towards him in the deep blue orbs._

"_You should've killed him."_

"_Believe me the thought crossed my mind, but I figure they already want to kill us, so we probably shouldn't provoke them any further."_

_Rayne nods, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. "Thank you Peter."_

_He nodded, hearing the accusatory tone in her voice, he sighed tilting her head up with a finger under her chin. "Rayne, despite the issues we have, you are part of my family. One of only two that I have left. I care for you Raynelle. Despite what you might think."_

_He stepped away from her moving towards the door as she slid off the desk standing on shaky legs. "You forget, I know you Peter."_

"_Then you can't tell me I don't care for you." With that he walked out, leaving her alone with her thoughts._

* * *

Rayne comes back to the conversation as the Sheriff starts speaking again.

"I got to meet with the medical examiner and try to figure out what happened with Jackson. I've got an APB out on Stiles. His Jeep is still in the parking lot, so that means…" He stops at a loss for words. "Ah, hell. I don't know what that means. Look if he answers his phone, if he answers his emails, if either one of you see him…"

"We'll call you." Isaac assured him with a small smile.

"Look, he's probably just freaked out from all the attention or something." Scott says trying to reassure him.

"We'll find him." Rayne says with conviction in her voice, only Scott and Isaac knowing she was referring to the three wolves standing before the Sheriff.

"Yeah. I'll see you, okay?" He says before he turns and walks away out of the locker room.

The Coach approaches the trio. "McCall. We need you on the team, okay? You know I can't put you on the field next season if you don't get your grades up."

"Yeah, I know Coach." Scott tells him.

"All right," he says before shaking his head as he turns away, but then turns back, he almost appears to have tears in his eyes. "I mean, I know I yell a lot, but it's not like I hate you guys. Well, I kind of hate Greenberg, but, you know, that's different. It's Greenberg. I'm just saying we, I need you on the team. Get your grades back up."

"I will." Scott tells him with conviction.

"I know." Coach leaves the trio, as Scott looks around, "Is that everyone?"

Isaac moves to the door, looking around, he sighs, "I think so."

Behind him is the twisting of metal, he turns back to see Scott has ripped Stiles' locker door off, tossing it at Isaac's feet. He pull out a couple of items, catching Isaac's attention. "You're gonna find him by scent?"

"Yeah, we all are." He says handing a piece of clothing to Isaac, who gives it a disgusting look. "But how come you get his shirt and I get a shoe?"

The trio looks up to see Derek standing a few yards in front of them. "We need to talk," Derek said, simply.

"All of us," Peter added, stepping out from behind the lockers on the right side of Derek like the true diva he was. Rayne rolled her eyes.

"Holy… sh…" Scott breathed. "What the hell is this?" He asked after catching his breath and mentally steadying himself.

"You know, I thought the same thing when I saw you talking to Gerard at the Sherriff's station," Derek snarked.

"Okay, hold on!" Scott protested. "He threatened to kill our mom! And I had to get close to him. What was I supposed to do?"

"I'm gonna go with Scott on this one," Peter put in. "Have you seen his mom? She's gorgeous…"

"Shut up," Rayne snapped and was pleasantly surprised to find her voice joined in unison by Derek and Scott. Peter just rolled his eyes.

"Who is he?" Isaac asks Scott.

"He's Peter, Derek's Uncle," Scott explained. "Little while back, he tried to kill us all, then we set him on fire and Derek slashed his throat." Derek gives a sigh and a roll of his eyes.

"Hi," Peter gave a little wave and ignored the look Rayne shot him.

"That's good to know," Isaac decided.

"How is he alive?" Scott finally got around to asking.

"Look," Derek began, the agitation already apparent in his voice. He was impatient to the max and right now they didn't have time to lose. "The short version is he knows how to stop Jackson." He paused and added, "Maybe how to save him."

The two boys shared a look and then Isaac spoke up. "Well, that's very helpful, except Jackson's dead."

"What?" Derek asked.

"It's true Derek. We were too late." Rayne confirmed.

"Yeah, Jackson's dead," Scott agreed. "It just happened on the field."

Peter, Rayne and Derek shared a knowing look before Derek's eyes slid to meet Rayne's as he frowned deeply.

"Okay, why is no one taking this as good news?" Isaac asked.

"Because if Jackson is dead, it didn't just happen," Peter explained. "Gerard wanted it to happen."

"But why?" Derek was quick to ask.

"Well, that's exactly what we need to figure out." Peter tells them thinking hard. "And something tells me the window of opportunity is closing. Quickly."

Rayne clenched her hands and scowled at the floor of the locker room. Something big was going to happen. Something big and terrifying and Rayne was hoping she was prepared.

"So," Rayne began, taking a deep breath to steady herself. "Where do we go to find out how to fix this?"

Peter turned to her with a terrifying grin. He replied, "Back to the place where this all began."

* * *

The place it had all began— six years ago in a blaze of pain and flame. The place where Rayne found a family only to lose them, where Peter lost his mind, where Derek lost everything, where Scott was changed, where Laura was laid to rest, where Kate Argent had her throat slashed open, where Boyd and Erica abandoned the pack. Where it all began.

As they walk through the door, Scott gets a text, "Oh, they found Stiles."

"Thank god." Rayne says.

"Look," Derek snapped. "I told you I looked everywhere."

"You didn't look here," Peter shot back, kneeling down. Leaning down, he tapped at the side of the stairs before pulling the wood from one of the steps. He pulled out what looked like a briefcase.

"What is that?" Derek asked. "A book?"

Peter shot him a disbelieving look. "No," he scoffed. "It's a laptop. What century are you living in?" He opened to box, as Derek rolls his eyes and explained, "A few days after I got out of the coma, I transferred everything we had. Fortunately, the Argents aren't the only ones that keep records." He stood and crossed the room.

Peter takes the case into the living room, Derek, Rayne and Isaac follow. "You mean you had some free time between killing people?" Rayne snarked.

"Oh, hush," Peter pouted at her, but then turned his attention back to setting up the computer.

Scott is about to join them when his phone rings, he stops answering it, "Hey mom, I can't talk right now."

"_Yeah, Well, I'm so freaked out that I can barely talk either."_

"What's wrong?"

"_Something. Definitely something. I don't know what, but I think you're gonna want to see this for yourself." _

"My mom says something weird is going on with Jackson's body," Scott suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Weird?" Rayne furrowed her brows. That could mean anything.

But Derek was already twisting to Peter. To get Peter's counsel. "What's going on with him?"

Peter gestured to the computer that was only just booting up. "I don't know yet," he admitted. "But I'm willing to bet it's not good."

"Go check it out," Derek finally decided. "Isaac, go with him— he might need back up." The boys took off without another word. Rayne came to stand beside Derek again and was surprised when his hand reached out to brush against her own. She glanced up to his uncertain expression. Instantly, she twisted her arm and captured his hand in hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

* * *

Scott and Isaac go to meet his mom at the hospital where Jackson's body is being kept. Rayne stands next to Derek, behind Peter who sits at a desk in front of them on his laptop. They all waited in silence— Peter scrolling through word document after word document, Derek frowning at the computer screen. Then, a ringing phone echoed in the abandoned house. Derek answers the phone, it's Scott, he relays what Scott says to them as they talk.

"They say he's in some kind of transparent casing made from the venom coming out of his claws." Derek announced after a moment of listening.

"Well… that sounds officially terrifying." Peter snarked. Maybe one day he'd take the situation seriously. Right now was apparently not the right time.

"They also say he's starting to move." Derek added.

"Okay, look, I think I found something," Peter spoke up. "Looks like what you're seeing from Jackson is the Kanima's Beta shape."

"Well, meaning what? He can turn into something bigger?" Derek says leaning down closer to the computer, Rayne follows leaning on Peter's shoulder.

"Bigger and Badder," Peter tells him sitting back in the chair.

"He's turning into that? That has wings boys." Rayne says becoming more alarmed.

Peter doesn't move his eyes from the screen, "I can see that."

Derek gets back on the phone, "Scott, bring him to us."

"_I'm not sure if we have time for that."_

"Look, somebody actually made an animation of it. Maybe it's less frightening if we…"

Peter clicks on it, the animation screeches, the three of them jumping back, Peter quickly closes the computer, "Nope, not at all. We should probably meet them halfway."

Rayne points at the computer, "That is not okay!"

"Scott, get him out of there now. Go now." Derek instantly shut the phone, assuming rightfully that Scott would follow his orders without question.

The three of them start to head for the front door, Peter cautions him, "Derek, we need Lydia."

"Look, there's no time for…"

"That's the problem," Peter protested. "We're rushing. We're moving too fast. And while everybody knows that a moving target is harder to hit, here we are, racing right into Gerard's crosshairs."

"If I get the chance to kill Jackson, I'm taking it."

"Derek stop!" He turns back to Rayne, "Peter's right. The only way to save Jackson, is with Lydia." She walks outside past them both, getting into her truck.

Peter raises his eyebrows as he watches her walk away, "That woman is an incredible Alpha."

Derek sighs, "I know."

* * *

Rayne is standing outside of an abandoned warehouse, her arms crossed over her chest. She sees a car pull up, Scott gets out of the passenger seat, but it's the driver that has her confused.

Chris Argent.

"What are you doing here?"

"Trying to stop my family from destroying innocent lives."

Chris holds her gaze, Rayne's eyes harden, "I won't let you kill him. And if she tries, I'll kill her."

"You know what he did."

"Yes, I was there. I know why he did it too. But neither you or Allison know the truth."

"You do what you have to Rayne. Where's Derek?"

From down the alley way behind her, Derek comes running on hands and feet. He front flips, landing on his feet in front of them, eyes burning red. Rayne, Scott and Peter roll their eyes at the Alphas antics. Rayne hears Peter whisper in the shadows, "Someone certainly enjoys making an entrance."

Derek stands up eyeing Chris, Rayne at his right side. Chris steps forward, "I'm here for Jackson. Not you."

"Somehow I don't find that very comforting," Derek snarked back. Rayne frowned as she cocked her head, looking Argent up and down. His heartbeat hadn't jumped. He was telling the truth. But the night was young. And where the fuck was Allison? "Get him inside," Derek ordered, breaking his staring contest with the hunter.

Chris drives his car inside the building, the two Betas take the body bag containing Jackson out, laying it on the floor.

"Where are they?" Scott asks once they set him down.

Derek glances around confused, "Who?"

"Peter and Lydia." Scott shoots back.

Derek doesn't answer, only rolls his eyes a bit. But Rayne knew what he was thinking— what he was feeling. Derek was nervous. He wasn't sure he could do this without Lydia and all that stupid love shit. Even from where she was standing, she could smell Peter— so she knew Derek could smell him too. At least they weren't alone. Rayne glanced up and locked eyes with Peter briefly. She didn't trust the fact that he was looming all suspicious like in the corner.

Suddenly Derek approached the body and unzipped the bag. "Hold on a second," Scott interrupted. "You said you knew how to save him."

"We're past that." Derek simply snapped back.

"What— What about…"

"Think about it, Scott. Gerard controls him now. He's turned Jackson into his own personal guard dog. And he set all of this in motion so that Jackson could get even bigger and more powerful."

"No." Chris said decisively. "No, he wouldn't do that. If Jackson's a dog, he's turning rabid, and my father wouldn't let a rabid dog live."

"Of course not," a voice came from the entrance of the warehouse. Rayne's spine melted as she recognized who it was. Instinctively, she took a step closer to Derek. "Anything that dangerous— that out of control— is better off dead."

Derek reaches his arm back, he brings it down to slash Jackson's throat, but Jackson wakes digging the claws of his right hand into Derek's chest.

"Derek!" Rayne screams.

Jackson lifts Derek into the air in an impressive show of strength and power, still only by his hand. He throws Derek back through some plastic curtains, into a separate room.

Then Rayne's instinct took over.

Her feet moved before she could think about it and her claws gleamed in the moonlight. They whistled as they came down across Jackson's chest— but nothing happened. No blood, no wounds. It was like cutting diamonds. The surprise didn't last long as suddenly the Kanima's fist met her stomach and she was knocked halfway across the warehouse. She looked up to see Gerard speaking to her brother.

"Well done to the last Scott. Like the concerned friend you are, you brought Jackson to Derek to save him. You just didn't realize that you were also bringing Derek to me."

Rayne breathes heavily, suddenly an arrow wizzes past them, embedding in Isaac's right shoulder. Isaac falls to the ground as Scott looks at the person who shot the arrow, "Allison?"

Rayne was already on her feet— moving so that she could get closer to her Beta. Scott apparently had the same idea and they both grabbed Isaac at the same time. Together, they yanked him up and tried to get him to safety as shots rang out.

Rayne glanced behind her long enough to see the Kanima toss Chris to the side. And then Derek flipped onto the scene. He was shifted and Rayne instantly felt herself shift, the she-wolf taking over. Beside her, she could smell Isaac and Scott changing shape. For the first time in a long time she felt like part of a pack as they all began to converge on the monster at the same time. Derek managed to get a swing in before Jackson slashed him in the gut. Scott jumped on his back but was promptly thrown off smashing into steel pipes on the wall. And then it was Rayne's turn.

On strong legs, she pushed her body into the air so that she could flip over the Kanima and land behind it. She had realized long ago it was better to catch the thing unaware instead of facing it directly. Her claws sunk into flesh this time, but then he twisted around and wrapping his tail around her ankle, he flung her into the concrete wall.

She watches Isaac getting thrown into a wooden pallet. Isaac gets up ready to attack Jackson again, Allison steps in front of him blades in both hands. She slices Isaac multiple times on his chest and stomach, then moving behind him she stabs her blades into his back.

She focuses her attention on Derek, lying on the floor. Rayne stands up shaking, and steps in between them, her claws itching at her sides "Please Allison, don't make me kill you."

Scott runs in, "No, Allison!"

All at once, Allison's wrists are grabbed, her knives clattering to the ground, as the Kanima wraps a paw around her throat, she gasps.

"Not yet Allison."

Allison locks eyes with Gerard, "What are you doing?"

"He's doing what he came here to do." Scott answers.

"Then you know?"

Allison looks between the two, "What's he talking about?"

"It was that night outside the hospital, wasn't it, when I threatened your mother. I knew I saw something in your eyes. You could smell it, couldn't you?"

Isaac takes a breath, "He's dying."

"I am. I have been for a while now. Unfortunately, science doesn't have a cure for cancer yet. But the supernatural does." Gerard eyes Derek as he tries to get up off the floor.

Chris is fuming, "You monster."

"Not yet."

Allison screams, "What are you doing?" She gasps as the Kanima squeezes her throat lifting her onto her toes. Chris steps forward eyeing his daughter, "You'd kill her too?"

"When it comes to survival, I'd kill my own son!" He looks over to his right, "Scott."

Scott shifts back, looking around the room, he meets the disbelieving eyes of everyone. Everyone except his sister that is, she gives him a wink. Scott walks over, he digs his claws into the back of Derek's neck, lifting him up.

Derek is grunting in pain, "Scott, Scott, don't. You know that he's gonna kill me right after. He'll be an Alpha."

"That's true." Gerard admitted. "But I think he already knows that, don't you, Scott? He knows that the ultimate prize is Allison. Do this small task for me, and they can be together. You are the only piece that doesn't fit, Derek. And in case you haven't learned yet, there is just no competing with young love."

"Scott, don't! Don't!" Derek repeated.

"I'm sorry. But I have to."

Gerard takes off his jacket, rolling up his sleeve. Rayne watches as Scott pulls Derek's head back, his mouth opening as a result, his canines bared. Gerard sticks his arm in Derek's mouth, the sound of teeth breaking skin, precedes Gerard's screams.

Within seconds Gerard removes his arm, Derek falls to the ground. Gerard laughs holding his arm up for everyone to see. Peter watches from his hiding spot, "What the…" Instead of healing itself, Gerard's blood turns black, running down his arm. Gerard wonders why everyone is looking at him so oddly. "What?" He turns his arm over to see the black blood running out of both side of the wound. "What is this? What did you do?"

"What we had to do." Scott says.

Derek looks up at Scott, confusion on his face. "Everyone said Gerard always had a plan," Scott explained, turning to his sister. "We had a plan, too."

Gerard takes out his pill container, opening it up he finds that the pills he's been taking weren't his. "No. No…"

Scott and Rayne had enlisted Dr. Deaton's help, they made up their own pills. When Gerard dropped his container at the police station, Scott switched containers and handed him the one with their pills.

Gerard crushes the pills in his hand, "Mountain ash!" He falls to his knees as he starts bleeding black blood from his eyes and nose. He starts choking as a stream of black liquid spews from his mouth and he falls to the ground.

Derek looks from Rayne to Scott, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you might be an Alpha," Scott explained. "But you're not mine."

Rayne felt Derek's rejection radiating through her. She knew that Derek more than anything, wanted Scott to trust him.

Gerard crawls across the floor, spitting black blood onto the ground, "Kill them! Kill them all!" As Gerard collapses, Allison takes the distraction to elbow the Kanima in the face, it shoves her down behind it, as it moves forward. Suddenly there's a crash, Stiles jeep barrels into the warehouse, it aims straight for the Kanima, hitting it. Stiles is in the drivers seat, his eyes closed, he opens them looking over at Scott, "Did I get him?" Scott smiles.

All at once the Kanima jumps up on the hood of Stiles' Jeep. Stiles freaks out screaming, as Lydia gets out of the passenger side, Stiles runs over by Scott, while Lydia stands her ground.

"Jackson!" She shouted, foolishly approaching the creature. "Jackson!"

"Lydia!" Stiles screamed when he realized that she was moving toward the Kanima. It's about to attack her when she holds up a small bit of metal— a key.

He stares at it having a flashback of the day he gave it to her. It works as Jackson starts to shift back to himself.

Jackson began to step backwards, turning to look at Derek. His eyes were so… lost. Pitiful. He was asking to be put down. He knew he was hurting people and he was asking Derek to put him out of his misery. Derek sees Peter behind Jackson, smile and advance on him. Derek pushes himself up, his eyes glowing red. Jackson locks eyes with Derek, holding his hands out to his side and nodding his head. He's ready to die.

Peter jumps down behind Jackson, Derek steps forward plunging his claws in Jackson's abdomen, a second before Peter jabs his in Jackson's back. Everyone else minus Rayne, is stunned as Derek and Peter lift a coughing Jackson up off the ground. They let him go, Jackson staggers for a moment before starts to fall, Lydia running over to catch him.

Derek shifts back to normal, standing silently next to Rayne.

Jackson searches Lydia's eyes, "Do you… do you… still…?" Even now, Jackson's voice was fading.

"I do!" Lydia was quick to answer. "I do still love you. I do, I do still love you," she told him, her voice breaking.

And then all the energy Jackson seemed to have had faded swiftly as he rested his head on Lydia's shoulder. She cupped his head gingerly and closed her eyes, allowing the tears to stream wildly. Gently, she laid him down. The scent of grief was rolling off everyone— even if they hadn't always liked Jackson, no one could watch that kind of scene and not be moved.

Everyone watches, Scott taking Allison's hand which she grabs tightly. Rayne wraps her arms around Derek's waist, he returns it holding her tightly to his side. Lydia lays Jackson down as the remaining evidence of him having been the Kanima disappears from his skin.

Allison looks over to where Gerard fell, "Where's Gerard?"

Chris follows her sight, "He can't be far."

Lydia stood, trying to catch her breath. And Rayne watched Stiles step forward— always the bridesmaid, never the bride— to comfort her.

But then… the sound of something sliding along the cement rang through the warehouse.

Claws. Rayne knew that sound so distinctly.

She smiled, letting out a deep breath, "Derek. It worked."

Everyone's attention turns from her to Lydia as they look down behind her. Jackson's nails are scratching the ground, suddenly his eyes open, the electric blue eyes of a Beta stare up at the ceiling. In the glow of Stiles' headlights, Jackson rises to his feet. He throws his head back, now fully shifted into a werewolf he lets out a loud roar.

His claws retract and he shifts back to human, he stares at Lydia who runs to him. Rayne sees the look on Stiles face, she walks over behind him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "It'll be all right Stiles, I know how you feel."

Stiles reaches up holding onto her hands with his. Scott sees the tears in Stiles eyes, Stiles sniffs, "He scratched my Jeep." Rayne and Scott chuckle.

* * *

The next day Derek, Rayne, Peter and Isaac show up at the Hale house. They stop just before the porch steps, they're all staring at the same thing.

"You haven't told him everything yet, have you?" Peter says glancing at Derek and Rayne. Isaac voices his concern, "What do you mean?"

Peter leans back against a tree, "Why do you think Derek was in such a hurry to build his pack? So eager to strengthen his power and his number? When there's a new Alpha, people take notice."

"People like who Derek?" Isaac questions before moving to the door, pointing to the symbol etched into it, "What is this? What does this mean?"

"It's their symbol. And it means they're coming." Rayne tells him.

"Who?"

Derek looks to the Beta, "Alphas."

"More than one."

"A pack of them." Derek voices.

Peter pipes up, "An Alpha pack. And they're not coming. They're already here."

THE END

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT, **FIRE & ICE: ALPHA TROUBLE**


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